LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 
SANTA  CRUZ 


£ 

m 


WITH  AMERICANS  OF 
PAST  AND   PRESENT  DAYS 


WITH  AMERICANS  OF 
PAST  AND  PRESENT  DAYS 


t»  *    BY 

J^J^JUSSERAND 

AMBASSADOR  OF  FRANCE  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
1916 


COPYRIGHT,  1916,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

Published  May,  1916 


DEDICATION 

This  day,  thirteen  years  ago,  a  new  French  am- 
bassador presented  his  credentials.  The  ambassador 
was  not  very  old  for  an  ambassador.  The  President 
was  very  young  for  a  president,  the  youngest,  in 
fact,  the  United  States  ever  had.  Both,  according  to 
custom,  read  set  speeches,  and  there  followed  a  first 
conversation,  which  had  a  great  many  successors, 
touching  on  a  variety  of  subjects  not  connected,  all 
of  them,  with  diplomacy.  In  which  talk  took  part 
the  genial,  learned,  and  warm-hearted  author  of  the 
"Pike  County  Ballads"  and  of  the  Life  of  Lincoln, 
present  at  the  meeting  as  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States. 

This  was  the  first  direct  impression  the  newcomer 
had  of  broad-minded,  strenuous  America,  his  earliest 
ones,  as  a  child,  having  been  derived  from  the  illus- 
trated weekly  paper  received  by  his  family,  and  which 


vi  DEDICATION 

offered  to  view  fancy  pictures  of  the  battles  between 
the  bearded  soldiers  of  Grant  and  Lee,  the  ' '  poilus ' '  of 
those  days;  another  impression  was  from  Cooper's 
tales,  Deerslayer  sharing  with  Ivanhoe  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  young  people  at  the  family  hearth. 
Another  American  impression  was  received  by  them 
a  little  later,  whent  the  Republic  having  been  pro- 
claimed,  the  street  where  the  family  had  their  winter 
home  ceased  to  be  called  "Rue  de  la  Reine"  and  be- 
came "Rue  Franklin." 

Thirteen  years  is  a  long  space  of  time  in  an 
ambassador's  life;  it  is  not  an  insignificant  one 
in  the  life  of  such  a  youthful  nation  as  the  United 
States;  I  have  now  witnessed  the  eleventh  part  of 
that  life.  Something  like  one-fourth  or  one-fifth  of 
the  population  has  been  added  since  I  began  service 
here.  There  were  forty-five  States  then  instead  of 
forty-eight;-  the  commercial  intercourse  with  France 
was  half  of  what  it  is  now;  the  tonnage  of  the 
American  navy  was  less  than  half  what  it  is  at 
present;  the  Panama  Canal  was  not  yet  American; 
the  aeroplane  was  unknown;  the  automobile  prac- 


DEDICATION  vii 

tically  unused.  Among  artists,  thinkers,  humorists, 
critics,  scientists,  shone  La  Farge,  McKim,  Saint- 
Gaudens,  William  James,  Mark  Twain,  Furness, 
Newcomb,  Weir  Mitchell,  who,  leaving  a  lasting 
fame,  have  all  passed  away. 

The  speech  at  the  White  House  was  followed  by 
many  others.  Little  enough  accustomed,  up  to  then, 
to  addressing  any  assembly  at  any  time,  I  did  not 
expect  to  have  much  to  do  in  that  line ;  but  I  had. 
I  soon  found  that  it  was  not  a  question  of  taste  and 
personal  disposition,  but  one  of  courtesy  and  friend- 
liness. The  quick-witted,  kindly-disposed,  warm- 
hearted audiences  of  America,  ever  ready  to  show 
appreciation  for  any  effort,  greatly  facilitated  mat- 
ters. 

I  was  thus  led  by  degrees  to  address  gatherings  of 
many  kinds,  in  many  places,  on  many  subjects,  from 
the  origins  of  the  War  of  Independence  to  refores- 
tation in  America,  and  from  the  Civil  War  to  in- 
fantile mortality.  Many  such  speeches  had  to  be 
delivered  impromptu;  others,  luckily  for  both  orator 
and  listeners,  were  on  subjects  which  the  former  had 


viii  DEDICATION 

studied  with  as  muck  care  as  the  fulfilling  of  a  vari- 
ety of  tasks  and  duties  had  allowed  him. 

An  examination  of  the  development  of  the  two  coun- 
tries will,  I  believe,  lead  any  impartial  mind  to  the 
conclusion  that,  with  so  many  peculiar  ties  between 
them  in  the  past,  a  similar  goal  ahead  of  them,  and,  to 
a  great  extent,  similar  hard  problems  to  solve,  it  cannot 
but  be  of  advantage  to  themselves  and  to  the  liberal 
world  that  the  two  Republics  facing  each  other  across 
the  broad  ocean,  one  nearly  half  a  century  old,  the 
other  three  times  as  much,  should  ever  live  on  terms 
of  amity,  not  to  say  intimacy,  comparing  experiences, 
of  help  to  one  another  whenever  circumstances  allow: 
this  they  have  been  on  more  than  one  occasion,  and 
will  doubtless  be  again  in  the  future.  During  our 
present  trials  the  active  generosity  of  American  men 
and  women  has  exerted  itself  in  a  way  that  can  never 
be  forgotten. 

The  dean  now,  not  only  of  the  diplomatic  corps  in 
Washington,  but  of  all  my  predecessors  from  the 
early  days,  when,  on  a  raised  platform  in  Inde- 
pendence Hall,  my  diplomatic  ancestor,  Gerard  de 


DEDICATION  ix 

Rayneval,  presented  to  Congress  the  first  credentials 
brought  here  from  abroad  (and  Gerard  was  then,  he 
alone,  the  whole  diplomatic  body),  I  have  presumed 
to  gather  together  a  few  studies  on  some  of  the  men 
or  events  of  most  interest  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Franco- American  relations.  Three  addresses  are 
added,  just  as  they  were  delivered.  May  these 
pages  find  among  readers  the  same  indulgent  recep- 
tion their  author  found  among  listeners. 

And  so,  having  now  lived  in  America  thirteen 
yearst  offering  good  wishes  to  the  forty-eight  of 
to-day,  I  dedicate,  in  memory  of  former  times,  ike 
following  pages 

TO 
THE   THIRTEEN    ORIGINAL    STATES. 


J.   J.    JUSSERAND. 
WASHINGTON,  February  7,  1916. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


DEDICATION v 

ROCHAMBEAU  AND  THE  FRENCH  IN  AMERICA, 

FROM  UNPUBLISHED  DOCUMENTS   ...  3 

MAJOR  L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY  137 

WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 199 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 277 

THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL 309 

HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS 319 

FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 333 


ROCHAMBEAU  AND  THE  FRENCH  IN 
AMERICA 

FROM  UNPUBLISHED  DOCUMENTS 


ROCHAMBEAU  AND  THE  FRENCH  IN 
AMERICA 

FROM    UNPUBLISHED   DOCUMENTS 

THE  American  war  had  been  for  five  years 
in  progress;  for  two  years  a  treaty  of  alli- 
ance, having  as  sole  object  "to  maintain 
effectually  the  liberty,  sovereignty,  and  indepen- 
dence, absolute  and  unlimited,  of  the  United 
States,"  bound  us  French  to  the  "insurgents"; 
successes  and  reverses  followed  each  other  in 
turn:  Brooklyn,  Trenton,  Brandywine,  Saratoga. 
Quite  recently  the  news  had  come  of  the  double 
victory  at  sea  and  on  land  of  d'Estaing  at  Grenada, 
and  Paris  had  been  illuminated.  The  lights  were 
scarcely  out  when  news  arrived  of  the  disaster 
of  the  same  d'Estaing  at  Savannah.  All  France 
felt  anxious  concerning  the  issue  of  a  war  which 
had  lasted  so  long  and  whose  end  continued  to 
be  doubtful. 

When,  in  the  first  months  of  1780,  the  report 
went  about  that  a  great  definitive  effort  was  to 
be  attempted,  that  it  was  not  this  time  a  question 
of  sending  ships  to  the  Americans,  but  cf  sending 
an  army,  and  that  the  termination  of  the  great 
drama  was  near,  the  enthusiasm  was  unbounded. 

3 


4  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

All  wanted  to  take  part.  There  was  a  prospect 
of  crossing  the  seas,  of  succoring  a  people  fight- 
ing for  a  sacred  cause,  a  people  of  whom  all  our 
volunteers  praised  the  virtues;  the  people  led  by 
Washington,  and  represented  in  Paris  by  Franklin. 
An  ardor  as  of  crusaders  inflamed  the  hearts  of 
French  youths,  and  the  intended  expedition  was, 
in  fact,  the  most  important  that  France  had 
launched  beyond  the  seas  since  the  distant  time 
of  the  crusades.  The  cause  was  a  truly  sacred 
one,  the  cause  of  liberty,  a  magical  word  which 
then  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  many.  "Why  is 
liberty  so  rare?"  Voltaire  had  said — "Because 
the  most  valuable  of  possessions." 

All  those  who  were  so  lucky  as  to  be  allowed 
to  take  part  in  the  expedition  were  convinced 
that  they  would  witness  memorable,  perhaps 
unique,  events,  and  it  turned  out,  indeed,  that 
they  were  to  witness  a  campaign  which,  with  the 
battle  of  Hastings,  where  the  fate  of  England  was 
decided  in  1066,  and  that  of  Bouvines,  which 
made  of  France  in  1214  a  great  nation,  was  to  be 
one  of  the  three  military  actions  with  greatest 
consequences  in  which  for  the  last  thousand 
years  the  French  had  participated. 

A  striking  result  of  this  state  of  mind  is  that 
an  extraordinary  number  of  those  who  went  noted 
down  their  impressions,  kept  journals,  drew 
sketches.  Never  perhaps  during  a  military  cam- 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  5 

paign   was   so   much  writing  done,  nor  were    so 
many  albums  filled  with  drawings. 

Notes,  letters,  journals,  sketches  have  come 
down  to  us  in  large  quantities,  and  from  all  man- 
ner of  men,  for  the  passion  of  observing  and  nar- 
rating was  common  to  all  kinds  of  people:  jour- 
nals and  memoirs  of  army  chiefs  like  Rochambeau, 
or  chiefs  of  staff  like  Chastellux,  a  member  of 
the  French  Academy,  adapter  of  Shakespeare, 
and  author  of  a  Felicite  Publique,  which,  Franklin 
said,  showed  him  to  be  "a  real  friend  of  human- 
ity"; narratives  of  a  regimental  chaplain,  like 
Abbe  Robin,  of  a  sceptical  rake  like  the  Duke  de 
Lauzun,  the  new  Don  Juan,  whose  battle  stories 
alternate  with  his  love  reminiscences,  handsome, 
impertinent,  licentious,  an  excellent  soldier  withal, 
bold  and  tenacious,  marked,  like  several  of  his 
companions,  to  mount  the  revolutionary  scaffold ; 
journals  of  officers  of  various  ranks,  like  Count  de 
Deux-Ponts,  Prince  de  Broglie,  he,  too,  marked  for 
the  scaffold;  Count  de  Segur,  son  of  the  marshal, 
himself  afterward  an  Academician  and  an  ambas- 
sador; Mathieu-Dumas,  future  minister  of  war  of 
a  future  King  of  Naples,  who  bore  the  then  un- 
known name  of  Joseph  Bonaparte;  the  Swedish 
Count  Axel  de  Fersen,  one  of  Rochambeau's  aides, 
who  was -to  organize  the  French  royal  family's 
flight  to  Varennes,  and  to  die  massacred  by  the 
mob  in  his  own  country ;  notes,  map,  and  sketches 


6  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

of  Baron  Cromot-Dubourg,  another  of  Rocham- 
beau's  aides;  journal,  too,  among  many  others,  of  a 
modest  quartermaster  like  Blanchard,  who  gives  a 
note  quite  apart,  observes  what  others  do  not, 
and  whose  tone,  as  that  of  a  subordinate,  is  in 
contrast  with  the  superb  ways  of  the  "seigneurs" 
his  companions. 

From  page  to  page,  turning  the  leaves,  one  sees 
appear,  without  speaking  of  Lafayette,  Kosciusko, 
and  the  first  enthusiasts,  many  names  just  emerg- 
ing from  obscurity,  never  to  sink  into  it  again: 
Berthier,  La  Perouse,  La  Touche-Treville,  the 
Lameth  brothers,  Bougainville,  Custine,  the 
Bouille  of  the  flight  to  Varennes,  the  La  Cloche- 
terie  of  the  fight  of  La  Belle  Poule,  the  Duportail 
who  was  to  be  minister  of  war  under  the  Constit- 
uent Assembly,  young  Talleyrand,  brother  of  the 
future  statesman,  young  Mirabeau,  brother  of 
the  orator,  himself  usually  known  for  his  portly 
dimensions  as  Mirabeau-tonneau,  ever  ready  with 
the  cup  or  the  sword,  young  Saint-Simon,  not  yet 
a  pacifist,  and  not  yet  a  Saint-Simonian,1  Suf- 
fren,  in  whose  squadron  had  embarked  the  future 
Director  B arras,  an  officer  then  in  the  regiment  of 
Pondichery.  All  France  was  really  represented, 

1  Concerning  his  American  campaign,  in  which  he  greatly  distin- 
guished himself,  he  wrote  later:  "In  itself,  war  did  not  interest  me, 
but  its  object  interested  me  keenly,  and  I  willingly  took  part  in  its 
labors.  I  said  to  myself:  '  I  want  the  end;  I  must  adopt  the  means.'  " 
(Euvres,  1865,  I,  n.  He  was  wounded  and  promoted. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  7 

to  some  extent  that  of  the  past,  to  a  larger  one 
that  of  the  future. 

Many  of  those  journals  have  been  published 
(Cromot-Dubourg's  only  in  an  English  version 
printed  in  America1) ;  others  have  been  lost;  others 
remain  unpublished,  so  that  after  all  that  has  been 
said,  and  well  said,  it  still  remains  possible,  with 
the  help  of  new  guides  and  new  documents,  to 
follow  Washington  and  Rochambeau  once  more, 
and  in  a  different  company,  during  the  momen- 
tous journey  which  led  them  from  the  Hudson  to 
the  York  River.  The  Washington  papers  and  the 
Rochambeau  papers,  used  only  in  part,  are  pre- 
served in  the  Library  of  Congress.  A  juvenile 
note,  in  contrast  with  the  quiet  dignity  of  the 
official  reports  by  the  heads  of  the  army,  is  given 
by  the  unprinted  journal,  a  copy  of  which  is 
also  preserved  in  the  same  library,  kept  by  one 
more  of  Rochambeau's  aides,  Louis  Baron  de 
Closen,  an  excellent  observer,  gay,  warm-hearted, 
who  took  seriously  all  that  pertained  to  duty, 
and  merrily  all  the  rest,  especially  mishaps.  Use- 
ful information  is  also  given  by  some  unprinted 
letters  of  George  Washington,  some  with  the 
superscription  still  preserved:  "On  public  service 
— to  his  Excellency,  Count  de  Rochambeau,  Wil- 
liamsburg,  Virginia,"  the  whole  text  often  in  the 
great  chief's  characteristic  handwriting,  clear  and 

1  Magazine  of  American  History,  March,  1880,  ff. 


8  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

steady,  neither  slow  nor  hasty,  with  nothing 
blurred  and  nothing  omitted,  with  no  trepidation, 
no  abbreviation,  the  writing  of  a  man  with  a 
clear  conscience  and  clear  views,  superior  to  for- 
tune, and  the  convinced  partisan,  in  every  cir- 
cumstance throughout  life,  of  the  straight  line. 

The  British  Government  has,  moreover,  most 
liberally  opened  its  archives,  so  that,  both  through 
the  recriminatory  pamphlets  printed  in  London 
after  the  disaster  and  the  despatches  now  acces- 
sible, one  can  know  what  was  said  day  by  day  in 
New  York  and  out  of  New  York,  in  the  redoubts 
at  Yorktown,  and  in  the  French  and  American 
trenches  around  the  place. 


Lieutenant-General  Jean-Baptiste  Donatien  de 
Vimeur,  Comte  de  Rochambeau,  aged  then  fifty- 
five,  and  Washington's  senior  by  seven  years,  was 
in  his  house,  still  in  existence,  Rue  du  Cherche- 
Midi,  Paris,1  at  the  beginning  of  March,  1780; 
he  was  ill  and  about  to  leave  for  his  castle  of  Ro- 
chambeau in  Vendomois;  post-horses  were  in 
readiness  when,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  he  re- 
ceived, he  says  in  his  memoirs,2  a  "courrier  bring- 
ing him  the  order  to  go  to  Versailles  and  receive 
the  instructions  of  his  Majesty."  For  some  time 
rumors  had  been  afloat  that  the  great  attempt 
would  soon  be  made.  He  was  informed  that  the 
news  was  true,  and  that  he  would  be  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  army  sent  to  the  assistance  of  the 
Americans. 

The  task  was  an  extraordinary  one.  He  would 
have  to  reach  the  New  World  with  a  body  of 
troops  packed  on  slow  transports,  to  avoid  the 
English  fleets,  to  fight  in  a  country  practically  un- 

1  A  quite  handsome  house,  now  the  offices  of  the  Ministry  of  Labor. 
The  gardens  no  longer  exist. 

2  Memoir es  militaires,  historiques  et  potiliques  de  Rochambeau,  ancien 
marechal  de  France  et  grand  officier  de  la  Legion  d'honneur,  Paris, 
1809,  2  vols.,  I,  235. 

9 


10  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

known,  by  the  side  of  men  not  less  so,  and  whom 
we  had  been  accustomed  to  fight  rather  than  be- 
friend, and  for  a  cause  which  had  never  before 
elicited  enthusiasm  at  Versailles,  the  cause  of  re- 
publican liberty. 

This  last  point  was  the  strangest  of  all,  so 
strange  that  even  Indians,  friends  of  the  French  in 
former  days,  asked  Rochambeau,  when  they  saw 
him  in  America,  how  it  was  that  his  King  could 
think  fit  to  help  other  people  against  "their  own 
father,"  their  King.  Rochambeau  replied  that 
the  latter  had  been  too  hard  on  his  subjects,  that 
they  were  right,  therefore,  in  shaking  off  the  yoke, 
and  we  in  helping  them  to  secure  "that  natural 
liberty  which  God  has  conferred  on  man." 

This  answer  to  "Messieurs  les  Sauvages,"  is  an 
enlightening  one;  it  shows  what  was  the  latent 
force  that  surmounted  all  obstacles  and  caused 
the  French  nation  to  stand  as  a  whole,  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  in  favor  of  the  Americans,  to  ap- 
plaud a  treaty  of  alliance  which,  while  entailing 
the  gravest  risks,  forbade  us  all  conquest,  and  to 
rejoice  enthusiastically  at  a  peace  which  after  a 
victorious  war  added  nothing  to  our  possessions. 
This  force  was  the  increasing  passion  among  the 
French  for  precisely  "that  natural  liberty  which 
God  has  conferred  on  man." 

Hatred  of  England,  quickened  though  it  had 
been  by  the  harsh  conditions  of  the  treaty  of 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  11 

Paris  bereaving  us  of  Canada,  in  1763,  had  much 
less  to  do  with  it  than  is  sometimes  alleged.  Such 
a  feeling  existed,  it  is  true,  in  the  hearts  of  some 
of  the  leaders,  but  not  of  all;  it  did  in  the  minds 
also  of  some  of  the  officers,  but  again  not  of  all. 
What  predominated  in  the  mass  of  the  nation, 
irrespective  of  any  other  consideration,  was  sym- 
pathy for  men  who  wanted  to  fight  injustice  and 
to  be  free.  The  cause  of  the  insurgents  was  pop- 
ular because  it  was  associated  with  the  notion  of 
liberty;  people  did  not  look  beyond.1 

It  is  often  forgotten  that  this  time  was  not  in 
France  a  period  of  Anglophobia,  but  of  Anglo- 
mania. Necker,  so  influential,  and  who  then  held 
the  purse-strings,  was  an  Anglophile;  so  was 
Prince  de  Montbarey,  minister  of  war;  so  was 
that  Duke  de  Lauzun  who  put  an  end  for  a  time 
to  his  love-affairs  and  came  to  America  at  the  head 
of  his  famous  legion.  All  that  was  English  was 
admired  and,  when  possible,  imitated:  manners, 
philosophy,  sports,  clothes,  parliamentary  insti- 
tutions, Shakespeare,  just  translated  by  Le  Tour- 
neur,  with  the  King  and  Queen  as  patrons  of  the 


1  "On  a  soutenu,"  said  Pontgibaud,  later  Comte  de  Mor6,  one  of 
Lafayette's  aides,  in  a  conversation  with  Alexander  Hamilton, 
"que  PinterSt  bien  entendu  de  la  France  6tait  de  rester  neutre  et 
de  profiter  de  1'embarras  de  1'Angleterre  pour  se  faire  restituer  le 
Canada."  But  this  would  have  been  going  against  the  general 
trend  of  public  opinion,  and  a  contrary  course  was  followed.  M6- 
tnoires  du  Comte  de  More,  Paris,  1898,  p.  169. 


12  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

undertaking;  but,  above  all,  wrote  Count  de 
Segur,  "we  were  all  dreaming  of  the  liberty,  at 
once  calm  and  lofty,  enjoyed  by  the  entire  body 
of  citizens  of  Great  Britain."1 

Such  is  the  ever-recurring  word.  Liberty,  phi- 
lanthropy, natural  rights,  these  were  the  magic 
syllables  to  conjure  with.  "All  France,"  read  we 
in  Grimm  and  Diderot's  correspondence,  "was 
filled  with  an  unbounded  love  for  humanity,"  and 
felt  a  passion  for  "those  exaggerated  general  max- 
ims which  raise  the  enthusiasm  of  young  men  and 
which  would  cause  them  to  run  to  the  world's 
end  to  help  a  Laplander  or  a  Hottentot."  The 
ideas  of  Montesquieu,  whose  Esprit  des  Lois  had 
had  twenty-two  editions  in  one  year,  of  Voltaire, 
of  d'Alembert  were  in  the  ascendant,  and  liberal 
thinkers  saw  in  the  Americans  propagandists  for 
their  doctrine.  General  Howe  having  occupied 
New  York  in  1776,  Voltaire  wrote  to  d'Alembert: 
"The  troops  of  Doctor  Franklin  have  been  beaten 
by  those  of  the  King  of  England.  Alas !  philos- 
ophers are  being  beaten  everywhere.  Reason  and 
liberty  are  unwelcome  in  this  world." 

Another  of  the  master  minds  of  the  day,  the 
economist,  thinker,  and  reformer  Turgot,  the  one 
whose  advice,  if  followed,  would  have  possibly 
secured  for  us  a  bloodless  revolution,  was  of  the 

1  Mtmoirts,  souvenirs  et  anecdotes,  Paris,  1824,  3  vols.,  I,  140.  Eng- 
lish translation,  London,  1825. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  13 

same  opinion.  In  the  famous  letter  written  by 
him  on  the  22d  of  March,  1778,  to  his  English 
friend,  Doctor  Price,  Turgot  showed  himself,  just 
as  the  French  nation  was,  ardently  pro- American, 
but  not  anti-English.  He  deplored  the  impend- 
ing war,  which  ought  to  have  been  avoided  by 
England's  acknowledging  in  time  "the  folly  of  its 
absurd  project  to  subjugate  the  Americans.  .  .  . 
It  is  a  strange  thing  that  it  be  not  yet  a  common- 
place truth  to  say  that  no  nation  can  ever  have 
the  right  to  govern  another  nation;  that  such  a 
government  has  no  other  foundation  than  force, 
which  is  also  the  foundation  of  brigandage  and 
tyranny;  that  a  people's  tyranny  is,  of  all  tyran- 
nies', the  most  cruel,  the  most  intolerable,  and 
the  one  which  leaves  the  least  resources  to  the 
oppressed  .  .  .  f or  a  multitude  does  not  calculate, 
does  not  feel  remorse,  and  it  bestows  on  itself 
glory  when  all  that  it  deserves  is  shame." 

The  Americans,  according  to  Turgot,  must  be 
free,  not  only  for  their  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake 
of  humanity;  an  experiment  of  the  utmost  import 
is  about  to  begin,  and  should  succeed.  He  added 
this,  the  worthy  forecast  of  a  generous  mind :  "It 
is  impossible  not  to  form  wishes  for  that  people  to 
reach  the  utmost  prosperity  it  is  capable  of. 
That  people  is  the  hope  of  mankind.  It  must 
show  to  the  world  by  its  example,  that  men  can 
be  free  and  tranquil,  and  can  do  without  the  chains 


14  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

that  tyrants  and  cheats  of  all  garb  have  tried  to 
lay  on  them  under  pretense  of  public  good.  It 
must  give  the  example  of  political  liberty,  religious 
liberty,  commercial  and  industrial  liberty.  The 
shelter  which  it  is  going  to  offer  to  the  oppressed 
of  all  nations  will  console  the  earth.  The  ease 
with  which  men  will  be  able  to  avail  themselves 
of  it  and  escape  the  effects  of  a  bad  government 
will  oblige  governments  to  open  their  eyes  and  to 
be  just.  The  rest  of  the  world  will  perceive  by 
degrees  the  emptiness  of  the  illusions  on  which 
politicians  have  festered."  Toward  England  Tur- 
got  has  a  feeling  of  regret  on  account  of  its  poli- 
cies, but  no  trace  of  animosity;  and,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  belief  that,  in  spite  of  what  some  people 
of  note  were  alleging,  the  absolutely  certain  loss 
of  her  American  colonies  would  not  result  in  a 
diminution  of  her  power.  "This  revolution  will 
prove,  maybe,  as  profitable  to  you  as  to  America."1 
Not  less  characteristic  of  the  times  and  of  the 
same  thinker's  turn  of  mind  is  a  brief  memorial 
written  by  him  for  the  King  shortly  after,  when 
Captain  Cook  was  making  his  third  voyage  of 
discovery,  the  one  from  which  he  never  returned. 
"Captain  Cook,"  Turgot  said,  "is  probably  on 
his  way  back  to  Europe.  His  expedition  having 
no  other  object  than  the  progress  of  human  knowl- 
edge, and  interesting,  therefore,  all  nations,  it 

1  (Euvres,  vol.  IX,  Paris,  1810,  pp.  377  ff. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  15 

would  be  worthy  of  the  King's  magnanimity  not 
to  allow  that  the  result  be  jeopardized  by  the 
chances  of  war."  Orders  should  be  given  to  all 
French  naval  officers  "to  abstain  from  any  hos- 
tile act  against  him  or  his  ship,  and  allow  him  to 
freely  continue  his  navigation,  and  to  treat  him 
in  every  respect  as  the  custom  is  to  treat  the  offi- 
cers and  ships  of  neutral  and  friendly  countries."1 
The  King  assented,  and  had  our  cruisers  notified 
of  the  sort  of  sacred  character  which  they  would 
have  to  recognize  in  that  ship  of  the  enemy:  a 
small  fact  in  itself,  but  showing  the  difference  be- 
tween the  wars  in  those  days  and  in  ours,  when 
we  have  had  to  witness  the  wanton  destruction  of 
the  Louvain  library,  the  shelling  of  the  Reims 
cathedral,  and  the  Arras  town  hall. 

An  immense  aspiration  was  growing  in  France 
for  more  equality,  fewer  privileges,  simpler  lives 
among  the  great,  less  hard  ones  among  the  lowly, 
more  accessible  knowledge,  the  free  discussion  by 
all  of  the  common  interests  of  all.  A  fact  of 
deepest  import  struck  the  least  attentive:  French 
masses  were  becoming  more  and  more  thinking 
masses.  One  should  not  forget  that  between  the 
end  of  the  American  Revolution  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  French  one  only  six  years  elapsed,  be- 
tween the  American  and  the  French  Constitu- 
tions but  four  years.  At  the  very  time  of  the 

l(Euwes,  IX,  417. 


16  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Yorktown  campaign  Necker  was  issuing  his  cele- 
brated Compte  Rendu,  which  he  addressed,  "pro 
forma"  to  the  King,  and  in  reality  to  the  nation.1 
This  famous  account  of  the  condition  of  France, 
the  piece  of  printed  matter  which  was  most  widely 
read  in  those  days,  began,  "Sire,"  but  ended: 
4 'In  writing  this  I  have  proudly  counted  on  that 
public  opinion  which  evil-minded  persons  may  try 
to  crush  or  to  distort,  but  which,  in  spite  of  their 
efforts,  Truth  and  Justice  carry  along  in  their 
wake." 

To  which  may  be  added  as  another  token  of 
the  same  state  of  mind  that  the  then  famous 
Count  de  Guibert  had  some  time  before  printed 
his  Essay  on  Tactics,  so  full  of  advanced  ideas, 
notably  on  the  necessary  limitation  of  the  power 
of  kings,  that  it  had  been  suppressed  by  the  au- 
thorities ;  and  he  had  dedicated  it  not  to  a  prince 
nor  to  any  man,  but  to  his  mother  country:  "A 
ma  Patrie."  2 

Six  years  after  the  end  of  the  American  war,  on 
January  24,  1789,  the  King  of  France  ordered 
the  drawing  up  of  the  famous  Cahiers,  desiring, 


1  January,  1781. 

2  He  ends  his  dedication  stating  that  he  may  fail  and  may  have 
dreamed  a  mere  dream,  but  he  should  not  be  blamed:  "Le  de"lire  d'un 
citoyen  qui  r6ve  au  bonheur  de  sa  patrie  a  quelque  chose  de  respec- 
table."    Essai  General  de  Tactique  precede  d'un  Discours  sur  Vital 
actuel  de  la  politique  et  de  la  science  militaire  en  Europe,  London, 
i772;Li6ge,  1775. 


KOCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  17 

he  said,  that  "from  the  extremities  of  his  kingdom 
and  the  most  unknown  habitations  every  one 
should  be  assured  of  a  means  of  conveying  to 
him  his  wishes  and  complaints."  And  the  Cahiers, 
requesting  liberties  very  similar  to  those  of  the 
Americans,  came  indeed  from  the  remotest  parts 
of  France,  the  work  of  everybody,  of  quasi-peasants 
sometimes,  who  would  offer  excuses  for  their  wild 
orthography  and  grammar.  The  notes  and  let- 
ters of  the  volunteers  of  our  Revolution,  sons  of 
peasants  or  artisans,  surprise  us  by  the  mass  of 
general  ideas  and  views  which  abound  in  them. 
It  was  not,  therefore,  a  statement  of  small  import 
that  Franklin  had  conveyed  to  Congress  when  he 
wrote  from  France:  "The  united  bent  of  the 
nation  is  manifestly  in  our  favor."  And  he  de- 
plored elsewhere  that  some  could  think  that  an 
appeal  to  France's  own  interest  was  good  policy: 
"Telling  them  their  commerce  will  be  advantaged 
by  our  success  and  that  it  is  their  interest  to  help 
us,  seems  as  much  as  to  say :  '  Help  us  and  we  shall 
not  be  obliged  to  you.'  Such  indiscreet  and  im- 
proper language  has  been  sometimes  held  here  by 
some  of  our  people  and  produced  no  good  effect." 
The  truth  is,  he  said  also,  that  "this  nation  is 
fond  of  glory,  particularly  that  of  protecting  the 
oppressed."1 

The    treaty   of   commerce,    accompanying   the 

1  Writings,  Smythe,  VIII,  390,  391. 


18  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

treaty  of  alliance  of  I778,1  had  been  in  itself  a 
justification  of  this  judgment.  Help  from  abroad 
was  so  pressingly  needed  in  America  that  almost 
any  advantages  requested  by  France  as  a  condi- 
tion would  have  been  granted;  but  that  strange 
sight  was  seen :  advantages  being  offered,  unasked, 
by  one  party,  and  declined  by  the  other.  France 
decided  at  once  not  to  accept  anything  as  a  recom- 
pense, not  even  Canada,  if  that  were  wrested  from 
the  English,  in  spite  of  Canada's  having  been 
French  from  the  first,  and  having  but  recently 
ceased  to  be  such.  The  fight  was  not  for  recom- 
pense but  for  liberty,  and  Franklin  could  write 
to  Congress  that  the  treaty  of  commerce  was  one 
to  which  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  in  accordance 
with  France's  own  wishes,  was  free  to  accede, 
when  it  chose,  on  the  same  footing  as  herself, 
England  included.2 

This  was  so  peculiar  that  many  had  doubts; 
John  Adams  never  lost  his;  Washington  himself 
had  some,  and  when  plans  were  submitted  to  him 
for  an  action  in  Canada  he  wondered,  as  he  wrote, 
whether  there  was  not  in  them  "more  than  the 

1  Both  signed  at  Paris  on  the  same  day,  February  6,  1778. 

2  Vergennes  had  written  in  the  same  way  to  the  Marquis  de  Noailles, 
French  ambassador  in  London:  "Our  engagements  are  simple;  they 
are  aggressive  toward  nobody;  we  have  desired  to  secure  for  our- 
selves no  advantage  of  which  other  nations  might  be  jealous,  and 
which  the  Americans  themselves  might  regret,  in  the  course  of  time, 
to  have  granted  us."  Doniol,  Participation  de  la  France  a  Vetablisse- 
ment  des  Etats  Unis,  II,  822. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  19 

disinterested  zeal  of  allies."1  What  would  take 
place  at  the  peace,  if  the  allies  were  victorious  ? 
Would  not  France  require,  in  one  form  or  another, 
some  advantages  for  herself?  But  she  did  not; 
her  peace  was  to  be  like  her  war,  pro- American 
rather  than  anti-English. 

Another  striking  trait  in  the  numerous  French 
accounts  which  have  come  down  to  us  of  this  cam- 
paign against  the  English  is  the  small  space  that 
the  English,  as  a  nation,  occupy  in  them.  The 
note  that  predominates  is  enthusiasm  for  the 
Americans,  not  hatred  for  their  enemies.  "In 
France,"  wrote  Segur  in  his  memoirs,  "in  spite 
of  the  habit  of  a  long  obedience  to  arbitrary  power, 
the  cause  of  the  American  insurgents  fixed  the 
attention  and  excited  the  interest  of  all.  From 
every  side  public  opinion  was  pressing  the  royal 
government  to  declare  itself  in  favor  of  republican 
liberty,  and  seemed  to  reproach  it  for  its  slowness 
and  timidity."  Of  any  revenge  to  be  taken  on 
the  enemy,  not  a  word.  "No  one  among  us,"  he 
said  further,  "thought  of  a  revolution  in  France, 
but  it  was  rapidly  taking  place  in  our  minds. 
Montesquieu  had  brought  to  light  again  the  long- 
buried  title-deeds  consecrating  the  rights  of  the 
people.  Mature  men  were  studying  and  envying 
the  laws  of  England." 

Summing  up  the  motives  of  the  new  crusaders, 

1  November  n,  1778. 


20  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

who  were  "  starting  off  to  the  war  in  the  name  of 
philanthropy,"  he  found  two:  "One  quite  reason- 
able and  conscientious,  the  desire  to  well  serve 
King  and  country  .  .  .  another  more  unique,  a 
veritable  enthusiasm  for  the  cause  of  American 
liberty."  Ministers  hesitated,  on  account  of  the 
greatness  of  the  risk,  "but  they  were,  little  by 
little,  carried  away  by  the  torrent."  During  the 
sea  voyage  only  the  chiefs  knew  exactly  whither 
they  were  going;  some  officers  thought  at  one 
time  they  might  have  to  fight  elsewhere  than  in 
America.  One  of  Rochambeau's  officers,  the  afore- 
mentioned Mathieu- Dumas,  confided  his  misgiv- 
ings to  his  journal:  "Above  all,"  he  wrote,  "I 
had  heartily  espoused  the  cause  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Americans,  and  I  should  have 
felt  extreme  regret  at  losing  the  honor  of  combat- 
ing for  their  liberty."1  Of  the  English,  again,  not 
a  word;  what  he  longed  for,  like  so  many  others, 
was  less  to  fight  against  the  English  than  for  the 
Americans. 

More  striking,  perhaps,  than  all  the  rest: 
shortly  after  we  had  decided  to  take  part  in  the 
war,  the  question  of  our  motives  and  of  a  possible 
annihilation  of  England  as  a  great  power  was 
plainly  put,  in  the  course  of  a  familiar  conversa- 
tion, by  the  president  of  Yale  University  to  the 

1  Souvenirs  du  Lieutenant  General  Comte  Mathieu-Dumas,  de  1770 
d  1836,  Paris,  3  vols.,  I,  36. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  21 

future  signer  of  the  Louisiana  Treaty,  Barbe- 
Marbois,  then  secretary  of  our  legation  in  the 
United  States.  "Mons.  Marbois,"  Ezra  Stiles 
confided  to  his  diary,  on  the  occasion  of  the  French 
minister,  La  Luzerne,  and  his  secretary's  visit  to 
Yale,  "is  a  learned  civilian,  a  councillor  of  the 
Parliament  of  Metz,  set.  35,  as  I  judge;  speaks 
English  very  tolerably,  much  better  than  his  Ex- 
cellency the  minister.  He  was  very  inquisitive 
for  books  and  American  histories.  .  .  .  Among 
other  things  I  asked  Mons.  Marbois  whether  the 
Powers  of  Europe  would  contentedly  see  Great 
Britain  annihilated. 

"He  said,  no;  it  would  be  for  the  interest  of 
Europe  that  Britain  should  have  weight  in  the 
balances  of  power.  .  .  .  France  did  not  want  to 
enlarge  her  dominions  by  conquest  or  otherwise."1 

For  the  French  diplomat,  a  man  of  great  ability 
and  well  informed,  addressing,  as  he  was,  one  to 
whom  a  "yes"  instead  of  a  "no"  would  have 
caused  no  pain,  far  from  it,  the  motive  of  our 
actions  was  neither  a  prospective  loss  by  England 
of  her  rank  nor  the  increase  of  our  own  posses- 
sions, but  simply  American  independence. 

1  Literary  Diary,  September  n,  1779;  New  York,  1901,  3  vols. 


II 

Aware  of  the  importance  and  difficulty  of  the 
move  it  had  decided  upon,  the  French  Govern- 
ment had  looked  for  a  trained  soldier,  a  man  of 
decision  and  of  sense,  one  who  would  understand 
Washington  and  be  understood  by  him,  would 
keep  in  hand  the  enthusiasts  under  his  orders, 
and  would  avoid  ill-prepared,  risky  ventures.  The 
time  of  the  d'Estaings  was  gone;  definitive  results 
were  to  be  sought.  The  government  considered 
it  could  do  no  better  than  to  select  Rochambeau. 
It  could,  indeed,  do  no  better. 

The  future  marshal  of  France  had  been  first 
destined  to  priesthood  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  he  was  a  second  son,  and  he  was  about  to 
receive  the  tonsure  when  his  elder  brother  died, 
and  Bishop  de  Crussol,  who  had  been  supervising 
Donatien's  ecclesiastical  studies,  came  one  day  to 
him  and  said:  "You  must  forget  all  I  have  told 
you  up  to  now;  you  have  become  the  eldest  of 
your  family  and  you  must  now  serve  your  coun- 
try with  as  much  zeal  as  you  would  have  served 
God  in  the  ecclesiastical  state/* 

Rochambeau  did  so.  He  was  appointed  an 
officer  and  served  on  his  first  campaign  in  Ger- 

22 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  23 

many  at  sixteen,  fought  under  Marshal  de  Saxe, 
was  a  colonel  at  twenty-two  (Washington  was  to 
become  one  also  at  twenty-two),  received  at  Lau- 
feldt  his  two  first  wounds,  of  which  he  nearly  died. 
At  the  head  of  the  famous  Auvergne  regiment, 
"Auvergne  sans  tache"  (Auvergne  the  spotless), 
as  it  was  called,  he  took  part  in  the  chief  battles 
of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  notably  in  the  victory 
of  Klostercamp,  where  spotless  Auvergne  had  58 
officers  and  800  soldiers  killed  or  wounded,  the 
battle  made  memorable  by  the  episode  of  the 
Chevalier  d'Assas,  who  went  to  his  heroic  death 
in  the  fulfilment  of  an  order  given  by  Rochambeau. 
The  latter  was  again  severely  wounded,  but,  lean- 
ing on  two  soldiers,  he  could  remain  at  his  post 
till  the  day  was  won. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  same  battle-fields 
were  fighting  many  destined,  like  Rochambeau 
himself,  to  take  part  in  the  American  war ;  it  was 
like  a  preliminary  rehearsal  of  the  drama  that 
was  to  be.  At  the  second  battle  of  Minden,  in 
1759,  where  the  father  of  Lafayette  was  killed, 
Rochambeau  covered  the  retreat,  while  in  the 
English  ranks  Lord  Cornwallis  was  learning  his 
trade,  as  was  too,  but  less  brilliantly,  Lord  George 
Germain,  the  future  colonial  secretary  of  the 
Yorktown  period.  At  Johannisberg,  in  the  same 
war,  Clinton,  future  commander-in-chief  at  New 
York,  was  wounded,  while  here  and  there  in  the 


24  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

French  army  such  officers  distinguished  them- 
selves as  Bougainville,  back  from  Ticonderoga, 
and  not  yet  a  sailor,  Chastellux,  already  a  colonel, 
no  longer  a  secretary  of  embassy,  not  yet  an  Acad- 
emician, and  my  predecessor,  La  Luzerne,  an  offi- 
cer of  cavalry,  not  yet  a  diplomat,  who  was  to 
be  the  second  minister  ever  accredited  to  America, 
where  his  name  is  not  forgotten. 

When  still  very  young  Rochambeau  had  con- 
tracted one  of  those  marriages  so  numerous  in 
the  eighteenth,  as  in  every  other  century,  of 
which  nothing  is  said  in  the  memoirs  and  letters 
of  the  period,  because  they  were  what  they  should 
be,  happy  ones.  Every  right-minded  and  right- 
hearted  man  will  find  less  pleasure  in  the  sauciest 
anecdote  told  by  Lauzun  than  in  the  simple  and 
brief  lines  written  in  his  old  age  by  Rochambeau : 
"My  good  star  gave  me  such  a  wife  as  I  could 
desire;  she  has  been  for  me  a  cause  of  constant 
happiness  throughout  life,  and  I  hope,  on  my 
side,  to  have  made  her  happy  by  the  tenderest 
amity,  which  has  never  varied  an  instant  during 
nearly  sixty  years."  The  issue  of  that  union, 
Viscount  Rochambeau,  from  his  youth  the  com- 
panion in  arms  of  his  father,  an  officer  at  four- 
teen, accompanied  him  to  the  States,  and  was, 
after  a  career  of  devotion  to  his  country,  to  die  a 
general  at  Leipzig,  in  the  "  Battle  of  Nations." 

Informed  at  Versailles  of  the  task  he  would 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  25 

have  to  perform,  the  exact  nature  of  which  was 
kept  a  secret  from  the  troops  themselves  now 
gathered  at  Brest,  Rochambeau  hastened  to  for- 
get his  "rhumatisme  inflammatoire "  and  set  to 
work  to  get  everything  in  readiness,  collecting  in- 
formation, talking  with  those  who  knew  America, 
and  noting  down  in  his  green-garbed  registers, 
which  were  to  accompany  him  in  his  campaign, 
the  chief  data  thus  secured.  He  also  addressed 
to  himself,  as  a  reminder,  a  number  of  useful 
recommendations  such  as  these:  "To  take  with 
us  a  quantity  of  flints,  .  .  .  much  flour  and  bis- 
cuit; have  bricks  as  ballast  for  the  ships,  to  be 
used  for  ovens;  to  try  to  bring  with  us  all  we 
want  and  not  to  have  to  ask  from  the  Americans 
who  are  themselves  in  want  ...  to  have  a  copy 
of  the  Atlas  brought  from  Philadelphia  by  Mr. 
de  Lafayette  ...  to  have  a  portable  printing- 
press,  like  that  of  Mr.  d'Estaing,  handy  for  proc- 
lamations .  .  .  siege  artillery  is  indispensable.'* 
Some  of  the  notes  are  of  grave  import  and  were 
not  lost  sight  of  throughout  the  campaign :  ' '  Noth- 
ing without  naval  supremacy." 

To  those  intrusted  with  the  care  of  loading  the 
vessels  he  recommends  that  all  articles  of  the 
same  kind  be  not  placed  on  the  same  ship,  "so 
that  in  case  of  mishap  to  any  ship  the  whole  sup- 
ply of  any  kind  of  provisions  be  not  totally  lost." 

As  to  the  pay  for  himself  and  his  officers,  he 


26  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

writes  to  the  minister  that  he  leaves  that  to  him: 
"Neither  I  nor  mine  desire  anything  extravagant; 
we  should  like  to  be  able  to  go  to  this  war  at  our 
own  expense."  But  the  government  did  not 
want  him  to  be  hampered  by  any  lack  of  funds, 
and  allotted  him  the  then  considerable  sum  of 
twelve  thousand  francs  a  month,  and  four  thou- 
sand a  month  the  generals  under  him. 

At  Brest,  where  he  now  repaired,  Rochambeau 
found  that  the  ships  were  not  so  numerous  as 
expected,  so  that  only  the  first  division  of  his 
army  could  embark  under  Admiral  Chevalier 
de  Ternay:  a  sad  blow  for  the  commander-in- 
chief .  He  prescribed  that  care  be  at  least  taken 
to  select  for  the  passage  the  most  robust  men, 
and,  in  order  to  save  space,  that  all  horses  be  left 
behind,  himself  giving  the  example.  "I  have," 
Rochambeau  writes  to  Prince  de  Montbarey,  the 
minister  of  war,  "to  part  company  with  two  battle- 
horses  that  I  can  never  replace.  I  do  so  with  the 
greatest  sorrow,  but  I  do  riot  want  to  have  to  re- 
proach myself  with  their  having  taken  up  the 
room  of  twenty  men  who  could  have  embarked 
in  their  stead."  Officers,  soldiers,  ammunition, 
artillery,  spare  clothing  for  the  troops,  and  even 
the  printing-press  go  on  board  at  last.  Men  and 
things  are  close-packed,  but  end  by  shaking  down 
into  place;  all  will  go  well,  Rochambeau  writes  to 
the  minister,  "without  any  overcrowding  of  the 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  27 

troops;  the  rule  for  long  journeys  having  been  ob- 
served, namely  one  soldier  for  every  two  tons 
burden." 

When  all  were  there,  however,  forming  a  total 
of  5,000  men,  the  maximum  was  so  truly  reached 
that  a  number  of  young  men,  some  belonging  to 
the  best-known  French  families,  who  were  arriv- 
ing at  Brest  from  day  to  day,  in  the  hope  of  being 
added  to  the  expedition,  had  to  be  sent  back. 
The  fleet  was  already  on  the  high  seas  when  a 
cutter  brought  the  government's  last  instructions 
to  Rochambeau.  On  the  boat  were  two  brothers 
called  Berthier,  who  besought  to  be  allowed  to 
volunteer.  "They  have  joined  us  yesterday,"  the 
general  writes  to  the  minister,  "and  have  handed 
us  your  letters.  .  .  .  They  were  dressed  in  linen 
vests  and  breeches,  asking  to  be  admitted  as  mere 
sailors."  But  there  was  really  no  place  to  put 
them.  "Those  poor  young  men  are  interesting 
and  in  despair."  They  had,  nevertheless,  to  be 
sent  back,  but  managed  to  join  the  army  later, 
and  so  it  was  that  Alexander  Berthier  began  in 
the  Yorktown  campaign  a  military  career  which 
he  was  to  end  as  marshal  of  France,  and  Prince 
of  Wagram  and  Neufchatel. 

The  departure,  which  it  was  necessary  to  hasten 
while  the  English  were  not  yet  ready,  was  beset 
with  difficulties.  Tempests,  contrary  winds  and 
other  mishaps  had  caused  vexatious  delay;  the 


28  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Comtesse  de  Noailles  and  the  Conquerant  had  come 
into  collision  and  had  had  to  be  repaired.  ' '  Luck- 
ily," wrote  Rochambeau  to  Montbarey,  with  his 
usual  good  humor,  "it  rains  also  on  Portsmouth." 
At  last,  on  the  26.  of  May,  1780,  the  fleet  of  seven 
ships  of  the  line  and  two  frigates  conveying  thirty- 
six  transports,  weighed  anchor  for  good.  "We 
shall  have  the  start  of  Graves,"  the  general  wrote 
again,  "for  he  will  have  to  use  the  same  wind  to 
leave  Portsmouth,"  and  he  added,  with  a  touch 
of  emotion  at  this  solemn  moment :  "I  recommend 
this  expedition  to  the  friendship  of  my  dear  old 
comrade,  and  to  his  zeal  for  the  good  of  the  state." 

At  sea  now  for  a  long  voyage,  two  or  three 
months,  perhaps,  with  the  prospect  of  calms,  of 
storms,  of  untoward  encounters,  of  scurvy  for  the 
troops.  On  board  the  big  Due  de  Bourgogne,  of 
eighty  guns,  with  Admiral  de  Ternay,  Rocham- 
beau adds  now  and  then  paragraphs  to  a  long 
report  which  is  a  kind  of  journal,  assuring  the 
minister,  after  the  first  fortnight,  that  all  is  well 
on  board:  "We  have  no  men  sick  other  than 
those  which  the  sea  makes  so,  among  whom  the 
Marquis  de  Laval  and  my  son  play  the  most 
conspicuous  part."  He  prepares  his  general  in- 
structions to  the  troops. 

On  board  the  smaller  craft  life  was  harder  and 
numerous  unflattering  descriptions  have  come 
down  to  us  in  the  journals  kept  by  so  many 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  29 

officers  of  the  army,  especially  in  that  of  the  afore- 
mentioned young  captain,  Louis  Baron  de  Closen, 
later  one  of  the  aides  of  Rochambeau. 

He  confesses,  but  with  no  undue  sentimentalism, 
that  he  was  saddened  at  first  to  some  extent  at 
the  prospect  of  an  absence  that  might  be  a  long 
one,  particularly  when  thinking  "of  a  charming 
young  fiancee,  full  of  wit  and  grace.  .  .  .  My 
profession,  however,  does  not  allow  me  to  yield 
too  much  to  sensibility;  so  I  am  now  perfectly 
resigned."  He  was  assigned  to  the  Comtesse  de 
NoailkSy  of  three  hundred  tons  (the  Ecureuil, 
that  kept  her  company,  was  of  only  one  hundred 
and  eighty).  Each  officer  had  received  fifty 
francs  for  extra  purchases;  they  found  it  was 
little,  but  when  they  had  made  their  purchases 
they  found  that  it  had  been  much,  so  great  was 
the  difficulty  in  stowing  their  possessions  on  the 
ship.  At  last,  "after  much  trouble  and  many 
words — a  few  crowns  here  and  there — each  of  us 
succeeded  in  squeezing  himself  and  his  belong- 
ings in  those  so-detested  sabots."1  Closen,  for 
his  part,  had  provisioned  himself  with  "sugar, 
lemons,  and  syrups  in  quantity." 

The  crew  consisted  of  forty-five  men,  "half  of 
them  Bretons,  half  Provencals,"  speaking  their 
own  dialect,  "and  who,  little  accustomed  to  the 
language  used  by  their  naval  officers  when  giving 

1  Wooden  shoes,  a  nickname  for  a  ship  of  mean  estate. 


30  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

their  orders,"  were  apt  to  misunderstand  them, 
hence  the  bad  manoeuvring  which  sent  the  Com- 
tesse  de  Noailles  right  across  the  Conquerant.  A 
sad  case;  would  they  be  left  behind,  and  miss 
taking  part  in  the  expedition?  By  great  luck 
"there  were  but  the  bowsprit,  the  spritsails,  and 
the  figure  of  the  charming  countess  which  were 
broken  to  pieces."  Repairs  are  begun  with  all 
speed.  Mr.  de  Deux-Ponts  promises  fifteen  louis 
to  the  workmen  if  the  ship  is  ready  the  next  day 
at  noon.  "One  more  reassuring  circumstance 
was  that  Mr.  de  Kersabiec,  a  very  expert  naval 
officer,  was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  looking 
after  the  workmen."  He  never  left  them,  and 
"encouraged  them  by  extra  distributions.  I  was 
intimate  with  all  the  family,  having  spent  the 
winter  at  Saint-Pol-de-Leon;  the  souvenir  of 
which  still  gives  me  pleasure."  The  next  day  all 
was  right  once  more:  "After  eleven,  the  amiable 
countess  was  taken  again — with  no  head,  it  is 
true,  like  so  many  other  countesses — beyond  the 
harbor  chain."  It  was  possible  to  start  with  the 
rest  of  the  fleet:  the  high  fortifications  overlook- 
ing the  harbor,  the  villages  along  the  coast,  so 
many  sails  curved  by  a  wind  "joli-frais,"  the  clear 
sky,  "all  united  to  form  the  most  beautiful  pic- 
ture at  the  time  of  our  start.  ...  So  many 
vessels  under  way  offered  a  truly  imposing  sight." 
Every-day  life  now  begins  on  the  small  craft; 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  31 

it  is  hard  at  first  to  get  accustomed,  so  tight- 
packed  is  the  ship,  but  one  gets  inured  to  it,  in 
spite  of  the  "buzzing  of  so  numerous  a  company," 
of  the  lack  of  breathing-space,  and  of  what  peo- 
ple breathe  being  made  unpleasant  by  all  sorts 
of  "exhalations"  from  the  ship,  the  masses  of  hu- 
manity on  board,  "and  a  few  dogs."  Closen  has 
the  good  luck  not  to  be  inconvenienced  by  the 
sea,  settles  in  his  corner,  and  from  that  moment 
till  the  end  takes  pleasure  in  watching  life  around 
him.  He  learns  how  to  make  nautical  observa- 
tions, describes  his  companions  in  his  journal,  and 
especially  the  captain,  a  typical  old  tar  who  has 
an  equal  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  hymns  and  of 
oaths.  "Prayer  is  said  twice  a  day  on  the  deck, 
which  does  not  prevent  there  being  much  irre- 
ligion  among  seamen.  I  have  often  heard  our 
captain  swear  and  curse  and  freely  use  the  worst 
sailors'  language,  while  he  was  praying  and  chant- 
ing: 

Je  mets  ma  confiance, 
Vierge,  en  votre  secours, 
Et  quand  ma  derniere  heure 
Viendra,  guidez  mon  sort; 
Obtenez  que  je  meure 
De  la  plus  sainte  mort" 

Various  incidents  break  the  monotony  of  the 
journey.     On  the   i8th  of  June  the  Surveillante 


32  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

captures  an  English  corsair,  which  is  a  joy,  but 
they  learn  from  her  the  fall  of  Charleston  and 
the  surrender  of  Lincoln,  which  gives  food  for 
thought.  Nothing  better  shows  the  difference 
between  old-time  and  present-time  navigation 
than  the  small  fact  that  while  on  the  way  they 
indulge  in  fishing.  On  board  the  Comtesse  de 
Noailles  they  capture  flying-fishes,  which  are 
"very  tender  and  delicious  to  eat,  fried  in  fresh 
butter,  like  gudgeons.'* 

An  occasion  offers  to  open  fight,  with  the  ad- 
vantage of  numerical  superiority,  on  six  English 
vessels;  some  shots  are  exchanged,  but  with  great 
wisdom,  and,  in  spite  of  the  grumblings  of  all  his 
people,  Ternay  refuses  to  really  engage  them,  and 
continues  his  voyage.  "He  had  his  convoy  too 
much  at  heart,"  says  Closen,  "and  he  knew  too 
well  the  importance  of  our  expedition,  his  positive 
orders  being  that  he  must  make  our  army  arrive 
as  quickly  as  possibk,  for  him  not  to  set  aside 
all  the  entreaties  of  the  young  naval  officers 
who,  I  was  told,  were  very  outspoken  on  that 
score,  as  well  as  most  of  the  land  officers,  who 
know  nothing  of  naval  matters." 

The  event  fully  justified  Ternay,  for  Graves, 
whose  mission  it  had  been  to  intercept  him  and 
his  slow  and  heavy  convoy,  missed  his  oppor- 
tunity by  twenty-four  hours  only,  reaching  New 
York,  where  he  joined  forces  with  Arbuthnot 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  33 

just  as  our  own  ships  were  safe  at  Newport.  The 
slightest  delay  on  Ternay's  part  might  have  been 
fatal. 

The  more  so  since,  when  nearing  the  coast  our 
fleet  had  fallen  into  fogs.  "Nothing  so  sad  and 
dangerous  at  sea  as  fogs,"  Closen  sententiously 
writes;  "besides  the  difficulty  of  avoiding  col- 
lisions in  so  numerous  a  fleet,  each  vessel,  in  order 
to  shun  them,  tries  to  gain  space;  thus  one  may 
chance  to  get  too  far  from  the  centre.  The  stand- 
ing orders  for  our  convoy  were,  in  view  of  avoid- 
ing those  inconveniences,  to  beat  the  drums  every 
quarter  of  an  hour  or  fire  petards.  The  men-of- 
war  fired  their  guns  or  sent  rockets.  The  speed- 
limit  was  three  knots  during  the  fog,  so  that  each 
vessel  might,  as  far  as  possible,  continue  keeping 
company  with  its  neighbor."  In  spite  of  all 
which  the  lie  de  France  was  lost,  and  there  was 
great  anxiety;  she  was  not  seen  again  during  the 
rest  of  the  journey,  but  she  appeared  later,  quite 
safe,  at  Boston. 

The  landing  orders  of  Rochambeau,  making 
known  now  to  all  concerned  the  intentions  of  the 
government,  were  clear  and  peremptory.  Drawn 
up  by  him  on  board  the  Due  de  Bourgogne,  he  had 
caused  copies  to  be  carried  to  the  chiefs  of  the 
several  corps  on  board  the  other  ships: 

"The  troops  which  his  Majesty  is  sending  to 
America  are  auxiliary  to  those  of  the  United 


34  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

States,  his  allies,  and  placed  under  the  orders  of 
General  Washington,  to  whom  the  honors  of  a 
marshal  of  France  will  be  rendered.  The  same 
with  the  President  of  Congress,"  which  avoided 
the  possibility  of  any  trouble  as  to  precedence, 
no  one  in  the  French  army  having  such  a  rank. 
"In  case  of  an  equality  of  rank  and  duration  of 
service,  the  American  officer  will  take  command. 
.  .  .  The  troops  of  the  King  will  yield  the  right 
side  to  the  allies;  French  troops  will  add  black  to 
their  cockades,  black  being  the  color  of  the  United 
States,"  and  some  such  hats,  with  black  and 
white  cockades,  are  still  preserved  at  Fraunces' 
Tavern,1  New  York.  "The  intention  of  his 
Majesty,"  the  general  continues,  "is  that  there 
be  perfect  concert  and  harmony  between  the  gen- 
erals and  officers  of  the  two  nations.  The  severest 
discipline  will  be  observed.  ...  It  is  forbidden 
to  take  a  bit  of  wood,  a  sheaf  of  straw,  any  kind 
of  vegetables,  except  amicably  and  in  paying.  .  .  . 
All  faults  of  unruliness,  disobedience,  insubordina- 
tion, ill-will,  brutal  and  sonorous  drunkenness 
.  .  .  will  be  punished,  according  to  ordinances 
with  strokes  of  the  flat  of  the  sword."  Even 
"light  faults  of  lack  of  cleanliness  or  attention" 
will  be  punished.  "To  make  the  punishment  the 

1  So  called  after  its  owner,  Samuel  Fraunces  (Francis  or  Francois); 
from  the  French  West  Indies,  nicknamed  "Black  Sam"  for  the 
color  of  his  skin. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  35 

harder  for  the  French  soldier,  he  will  be  barred 
from  military  service  during  his  detention." 

The  army,  but  not  the  fleet,  had  been  placed 
under  the  orders  of  Washington.  Ternay's  in- 
structions specified,  however,  that  while  his 
squadron  had  no  other  commander  than  himself, 
it  was  expected  that  he  would  "proffer  all  assis- 
tance that  might  facilitate  the  operations  of  the 
United  States,"  and  that  he  would  allow  the  use 
of  our  ships  "on  every  occasion  when  their  help 
might  be  requested."  Good- will  was  obviously 
the  leading  sentiment,  and  the  desire  of  all  was 
to  give  as  little  trouble  and  bring  as  much  useful 
help  as  possible. 


Ill 


On  the  nth  day  of  July  the  fleet  reached  New- 
port, after  seventy  days  at  sea,  which  was  longer 
than  Columbus  had  taken  on  his  first  voyage,  but 
which  was  nothing  extraordinary.  Abbe  Robin, 
a  chaplain  of  the  army,  arrived  later,  after  a  jour- 
ney of  eighty-five  days,  none  the  less  filled  with 
admiration  for  those  "enormous  machines  with 
which  men  master  the  waves"1 — a  very  mi- 
nute enormity  from  our  modern  point  of  view. 
"There  were  among  the  land  troops,"  says  Closen, 
"endless  shouts  of  joy"  at  the  prospect  of  being 
on  terra  firma  again.  The  troops,  owing  to  their 
having  been  fed  on  salt  meat  and  dry  vegetables, 
with  little  water  to  drink  (on  board  the  Comtesse 
de  Noailles  water  had  become  corrupt;  it  was 
now  and  then  replaced  by  wine,  "but  that  heats 
one  very  much"),  had  greatly  suffered.  Scurvy 
had  caused  its  usual  ravages;  600  or  700  soldiers 
and  1,000  sailors  were  suffering  from  it;  some  had 
died. 

They  were  now  confronted  by  the  unknown. 
What  would  that  unknown  be  ?  Rochambeau 

1  Nouveau  Voyage  dans  VAmerique  Septentrionale  en  Vannee  1781 
et  campagne  de  Varmee  de  M.  le  comte  de  Rochambeau,  Philadelphia, 
1782. 

36 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  37 

had  only  his  first  division  with  him;  would  he  be 
attacked  at  once  by  the  English,  who  disposed  of 
superior  naval  and  land  forces  about  New  York  ? 
And  what  would  be  the  attitude  of  the  Americans 
themselves  ?  Everybody  was  for  them  in  France, 
but  few  people  had  a  real  knowledge  of  them. 
Lafayette  had,  but  he  was  young  and  enthusi- 
astic. Would  the  inhabitants,  would  their  leader, 
Washington,  would  their  army  answer  his  descrip- 
tion? On  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  Newport  had 
fired  "thirteen  grand  rockets"  and  illuminated  its 
windows,  but  that  might  be  a  mere  matter  of 
course:  of  these  illuminations  the  then  president 
of  Yale,  Ezra  Stiles,  has  left  a  noteworthy  record : 
"The  bell  rang  at  Newport  till  after  midnight, 
and  the  evening  of  the  i2th  Newport  illuminated; 
the  Whigs  put  thirteen  lights  in  the  windows,  the 
Tories  or  doubtfuls  four  or  six.  The  Quakers 
did  not  choose  their  lights  should  shine  before 
men,  and  their  windows  were  broken."1 

The  game  was,  moreover,  a  difficult  one,  and 
had  to  be  played  on  an  immense  chess-board,  in- 
cluding North  and  South — Boston,  New  York, 
Charleston,  and  the  Chesapeake — including  even 
"the  Isles,"  that  is,  the  West  Indies;  and  what 
took  place  there,  which  might  have  so  much  im- 
portance for  continental  operations,  had  constantly 
to  be  guessed  or  imagined,  for  lack  of  news. 

1  Literary  Diary,  New  York,  1901,  II,  454. 


38  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Worse  than  all,  the  reputation  of  the  French  was, 
up  to  then,  in  America  such  as  hostile  English 
books  and  caricatures,  and  inconsiderate  French 
ones,  had  made  it.  We  knew  it,  and  so  well, 
too,  that  the  appropriateness  of  having  our  troops 
winter  in  our  colonies  of  the  West  Indies  was,  at 
one  time,  considered.  Our  minister,  Gerard,  was 
of  that  opinion:  "The  Americans  are  little  accus- 
tomed to  live  with  French  people,  for  whom  they 
cannot  have  as  yet  a  very  marked  inclination."1 
"The  old-time  prejudice  kept  up  by  the  English," 
wrote  Mathieu-Dumas  in  his  Souvenirs,  "about 
the  French  character  was  so  strong  that,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Revolution,  the  most  ardent 
minds  and  several  among  those  who  most  desired 
independence,  rejected  the  idea  of  an  alliance 
with  France."  "It  is  difficult  to  imagine,"  said 
Abbe  Robin,  "the  idea  Americans  entertained 
about  the  French  before  the  war.  They  consid- 
ered them  as  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  despot- 
ism, a  prey  to  superstition  and  prejudices,  almost 
idolatrous  in  their  religion,2  and  as  a  kind  of  light, 

irTo  Rochambeau;  n.  d.,  but  1780.  (Rochambeau  papers.) 
2  Writing  to  the  president  of  Yale,  July  29,  1778,  Silas  Deane, 
just  about  to  return  to  France,  recommended  the  creation  of  a  chair 
of  French:  "This  language  is  not  only  spoke  in  all  the  courts,  but 
daily  becomes  more  and  more  universal  among  people  of  business 
as  well  as  men  of  letters,  in  all  the  principal  towns  and  cities  of 
Europe."  Ezra  Stiles  consulted  a  number  of  friends;  the  majority 

were  against  or  in  doubt,  "Mr.  C violently  against,  because 

of  popery."    Literary  Diary,  August  24,  1778,  New  York,  1901,  II, 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  39 

brittle,  queer-shapen  mechanisms,  only  busy  friz- 
zling their  hair  and  painting  their  faces,  without 
faith  or  morals."  How  would  thousands  of  such 
mechanisms  be  received  ? 

With  his  usual  clear-headedness,  Rochambeau 
did  the  necessary  thing  on  each  point.  To  begin 
with,  in  case  of  an  English  attack,  which  was  at 
first  expected  every  day,  he  lost  no  time  in  forti- 
fying the  position  he  occupied,  "having,"  wrote 
Mathieu-Dumas,  "personally  selected  the  chief 
points  to  be  defended,  and  having  batteries  of 
heavy  artillery  and  mortars  erected  along  the  chan- 
nel, with  furnaces  to  heat  the  balls."  During  "the 
first  six  days,"  says  Closen,  "we  were  not  quite 
at  our  ease,  but,  luckily,  Messieurs  les  Anglais 
showed  us  great  consideration,  and  we  suffered 
from  nothing  worse  than  grave  anxieties."  After 
the  second  week,  Rochambeau  could  write  home 
that,  if  Clinton  appeared,  he  would  be  well  re- 
ceived. Shortly  after,  he  feels  sorry  the  visit  is 
delayed;  later,  when  his  own  second  division,  so 
ardently  desired,  did  not  appear,  he  writes  to  the 
war  minister :  "In  two  words,  sir  Henry  Clinton 
and  I  are  very  punctilious,  and  the  question  is 
between  us  who  will  first  call  on  the  other.  If 
we  do  not  get  up  earlier  in  the  morning  than  the 
English  and  the  reinforcements  they  expect  from 

297.  See  also,  concerning  the  prevalent  impressions  about  the 
French  the  Mimoires  du  Comte  de  More,  1898,  p.  69. 


40  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Europe  reach  them  before  our  second  division  ar- 
rives, they  will  pay  us  a  visit  here  that  I  should 
prefer  to  pay  them  in  New  York." 

Concerning  the  reputation  of  the  French,  Ro- 
chambeau  and  his  officers  were  in  perfect  accord: 
it  would  change  if  exemplary  discipline  were  main- 
tained throughout  the  campaign.  There  is  noth- 
ing the  chief  paid  more  attention  to  than  this, 
nor  with  more  complete  success.  Writing  to 
Prince  de  Montbarey  a  month  after  the  landing, 
Rochambeau  says:  "I  can  answer  for  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  army ;  not  a  man  has  left  his  camp, 
not  a  cabbage  has  been  stolen,  not  a  complaint 
has  been  heard."1  To  the  President  of  Congress 
he  had  written  a  few  days  before:  "I  hope  that 
account  will  have  been  rendered  to  your  Excel- 
lency of  the  discipline  observed  by  the  French 
troops;  there  has  not  been  one  complaint;  not  a 
man  has  missed  a  roll-call.  We  are  your  brothers 
and  we  shall  act  as  such  with  you;  we  shall  fight 
your  enemies  by  your  side  as  if  we  were  one  and 
the  same  nation."2  Mentioning  in  his  memoirs 
the  visit  of  those  "savages"  who  had  been  for- 
merly under  French  rule  and  persisted  in  remaining 
friendly  to  us,  he  adds:  "The  sight  of  guns,  troops, 
and  military  exercises  caused  them  no  surprise; 
but  they  were  greatly  astonished  to  see  apple- 

1  August  8,  1780.     (Rochambeau  papers.) 

2  August  3,  1780.     (Ibid.) 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  41 

trees  with  their  apples  upon  them  overhanging 
the  soldiers'  tents."  "This  result,"  he  concludes, 
"was  due  not  only  to  the  zeal  of  officers,  but  more 
than  anything  else  to  the  good  disposition  of  the 
soldiers,  which  never  failed." 

Another  fact  which  proved  to  our  advantage 
was  that  the  French  could  then  be  seen  in  num- 
bers and  at  close  quarters.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  portrait  and  the  original  was  too  glaring 
to  escape  notice.  William  Channing,  father  of 
the  philanthropist,  confides  to  the  same  Ezra 
Stiles,  in  a  letter  of  August  6,  1780,  his  delighted 
surprise :  "The  French  are  a  fine  body  of  men,  and 
appear  to  be  well  officered.  Neither  the  officers 
nor  men  are  the  effeminate  beings  we  were  here- 
tofore taught  to  believe  them.  They  are  as  large 
and  likely  men  as  can  be  produced  by  any  na- 
tion."1 So  much  for  the  brittle,  queer-shaped 
mechanisms. 

With  the  French  officers  in  the  West  Indies, 
most  of  them  former  companions  in  arms  and 
personal  friends,  Rochambeau,  as  soon  as  he  had 
landed,  began  to  correspond.  The  letters  thus 
exchanged,  generally  unpublished,  give  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  life  then  led  in  the  Isles.  Cut  off 
from  the  world  most  of  the  time,  not  knowing 
what  was  taking  place  in  France,  in  America,  on 
the  sea,  or  even  sometimes  on  the  neighboring 

1  Stiles's  Literary  Diary,  II,  458. 


42  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

island,  unaware  of  the  whereabouts  of  Rodney, 
having  to  guess  which  place  he  might  try  to  storm 
and  which  they  should  therefore  garrison,  these 
men,  suffering  from  fevers,  having  now  and  then 
their  ships  scattered  by  cyclones,  played  to  their 
credit  and  with  perfect  good  humor  their  difficult 
game  of  hide  and  seek.1  They  send  their  letters 
in  duplicate  and  triplicate,  by  chance  boats,  give 
news  of  the  French  court  when  they  have  any, 
and  learn  after  a  year's  delay  that  their  letters 
of  October,  1780,  have  been  duly  received  by  Ro- 
chambeau  in  June,  1781.  The  Marquis  de  Bouille, 
who  was  to  cover  himself  with  glory  at  Brimstone 
Hill,  and  is  now  chiefly  remembered  for  the  part 
he  played  in  Louis  XVI 's  flight  to  Varennes, 
writes  most  affectionately,  and  does  not  forget  to 
convey  the  compliments  of  his  brave  wife,  who 
had  accompanied  him  to  Martinique.  The  Mar- 


1  Rodney  "has  left  here  two  months  ago  without  our  being  able  to 
guess  whither  he  was  going.  .  .  .  Maybe  you  know  better  than  I  do 
where  he  may  presently  be.  .  .  . 

"We  have  just  suffered  from  a  terrible  tornado,  which  has  been 
felt  in  all  the  Windward  Islands;  it  has  caused  cruel  havoc.  A 
convoy  of  fifty-two  sails,  arrived  the  day  before  in  the  roadstead  of 
Saint-Pierre,  Martinique,  has  been  driven  out  to  sea,  and  has  disap- 
peared for  now  a  fortnight;  five  ships  only  returned  here,  the  others 
may  have  reached  San  Domingo  or  must  have  perished.  An  English 
ship  of  the  line  of  44  guns,  the  Endymion,  and  two  frigates,  the 
Laurel  and  the  Andromeda,  of  the  same  nationality,  have  perished 
on  our  coasts;  we  have  saved  some  of  their  sailors."  Marquis  de 
Bouill6  to  Rochambeau,  Fort  Royal  (Fort  de  France),  October  27, 
1780.  (Rochambeau  papers.) 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  43 

quis  de  Saint-Simon1  writes  from  Santo  Domingo 
to  say  how  much  he  would  like  to  go  and  fight 
under  Rochambeau  on  the  continent:  "I  would 
be  delighted  to  be  under  your  orders,  and  to  give 
up  for  that  the  command  in  chief  I  enjoy  here." 
And  he  supplies  him,  in  the  same  unpublished 
letter,  with  a  most  interesting  account  of  Cuba, 
just  visited  by  him:  "This  colony  has  an  air  of 
importance  far  superior  to  any  of  ours,  inhabited 
as  it  is  by  all  the  owners  of  the  land,  so  that  the 
city  (Havana)  looks  rather  a  European  than  a 
colonial  one;  society  is  numerous  and  seems  opu- 
lent. If  Spain  would  extend  and  facilitate  the 
trade  of  Cuba  the  island  would  become  exceed- 
ingly rich  in  little  time.  But  prohibitory  laws  are 
so  harsh  and  penalties  so  rigorous  that  they  cramp 
industry  everywhere." 

A  postscript  in  the  same  letter  shows  better 
than  anything  else  what  was  the  common  feeling 
among  officers  toward  Rochambeau:  "Mont- 
brun,"  writes  Saint-Simon,  "who  has  been  suffer- 
ing from  the  fever  for  a  long  time,  asks  me  to  as- 
sure you  of  his  respectful  attachment,  and  says 
that  he  has  written  you  twice,  that  your  silence 

1  Three  Saint-Simons  took  part  in  the  American  War  of  Indepen- 
dence, all  relatives  of  the  famous  duke,  the  author  of  the  memoirs: 
the  Marquis  Claude  Anne  (1740-1819),  the  Baron  Claude  (retired, 
1806),  and  the  Count  Claude  Henri  (1760-1825),  then  a  very  young 
officer,  the  future  founder  of  the  Saint-Simonian  sect,  and  first 
philosophical  master  of  Auguste  Comte. 


44  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

afflicts  him  very  much,  and  that  a  token  of  friend- 
ship and  remembrance  from  you  would  be  for  him 
the  best  of  febrifuges.  All  your  former  subor- 
dinates of  Auvergne  think  the  same,  and  have 
the  same  attachment  for  you,  in  which  respect  I 
yield  to  none."1 

The  stanch  devotion  of  Rochambeau  to  his 
duties  as  a  soldier,  his  personal  disinterestedness, 
his  cool-headedness  and  energy  as  a  leader,  his 
good  humor  in  the  midst  of  troubles  had  secured 
for  him  the  devotion  of  many,  while  his  brusquery, 
his  peremptoriness,  the  severity  which  veiled  his 
real  warmth  of  heart  whenever  the  service  was  at 
stake,  won  him  a  goodly  number  of  enemies,  the 
latter  very  generally  of  less  worth  as  men  than 
the  former.  In  the  affectionate  letter  by  which 
he  made  up  early  differences  with  "his  son  La- 
fayette," shortly  after  his  arrival,  he  observes, 
concerning  his  own  military  career:  "If  I  have 
been  lucky  enough  to  preserve,  up  to  now,  the 
confidence  of  the  French  soldiers  .  .  .  the  reason 
is  that  out  of  15,000  men  or  thereabout,  who  have 
been  killed  or  wounded  under  my  orders,  of  dif- 
ferent rank  and  in  the  most  deadly  actions,  I 
have  not  to  reproach  myself  with  having  caused 
a  single  one  to  be  killed  for  the  sake  of  my  own 
fame."  He  seemed,  Segur  said  in  his  memoirs, 
"to  have  been  purposely  created  to  understand 

January  7,  1781.     (Rochambeau  papers.) 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  45 

Washington,  and  be  understood  by  him,  and  to 
serve  with  republicans.  A  friend  of  order,  of 
laws,  and  of  liberty,  his  example  more  even  than 
his  authority  obliged  us  scrupulously  to  respect 
the  rights,  properties,  and  customs  of  our  allies.'* 


IV 

Nothing  without  my  second  division,  Rocham- 
beau  thought.  He  had  urged  the  government  in 
his  last  letters  before  leaving  France  to  send  it 
not  later  than  a  fortnight  after  he  himself  had 
sailed:  "The  convoy  will  cross  much  more  safely 
now  under  the  guard  of  two  warships,"  he  had 
written  to  Montbarey,  "than  it  will  in  a  month 
with  an  escort  of  thirty,  when  the  English  are 
ready."  And  again,  after  having  embarked  on 
the  Due  de  Bourgogne:  "For  Heaven's  sake,  sir, 
hasten  that  second  division.  .  .  .  We  are  just 
now  weighing  anchor."  But  weeks  and  months 
went  by,  and  no  news  came  of  the  second  division. 
Washington  with  his  ardent  patriotism,  Lafay- 
ette with  his  youthful  enthusiasm,  were  pressing 
Rochambeau  to  risk  all,  in  order  to  capture  New 
York,  the  stronghold  of  the  enemy  and  chief 
centre  of  their  power.  "I  am  confident,"  Ro- 
chambeau answered,  "that  our  general  (Wash- 
ington) does  not  want  us  to  give  here  a  second 
edition  of  Savannah,"  and  he  felt  the  more  anx- 
ious that,  with  the  coming  of  recruits  and  going  of 
veterans,  and  the  short-term  enlistments,  "Wash- 
ington would  command  now  15,000  men,  now 
5,ooo." 

46 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  47 

Rochambeau  decided  in  October  to  send  to 
France  his  son,  then  colonel  of  the  regiment  of 
Bourbonnais,  to  remonstrate.  As  capture  was 
possible  and  the  envoy  might  have  to  throw  his 
despatches  overboard,  young  Rochambeau,  be- 
ing blessed  with  youth  and  a  good  memory,  had 
learned  their  contents  by  heart.  One  of  the  best 
sailors  of  the  fleet  had  been  selected  to  convey  him, 
on  the  frigate  Amazone.  On  account  of  superior 
forces  mounting  guard  outside,  the  captain  waited 
for  the  first  night  storm  that  should  arise,  when 
the  watch  was  sure  to  be  less  strict,  started  in  the 
midst  of  one,  after  having  waited  for  eight  days, 
was  recognized,  but  too  late,  was  chased,  had  his 
masts  broken,  repaired  them,  and  reached  Brest 
safely.  The  sailor  who  did  so  well  on  this  oc- 
casion, and  who  was  to  meet  a  tragical  death 
at  Vanikoro.  bore  the  name,  famous  since,  of  La 
Perouse. 

Time  wore  on,  a  sad  time  for  the  American 
cause.  One  day  the  news  was  that  one  of  the 
most  trusted  generals,  famous  for  his  services  on 
land  and  water,  Benedict  Arnold,  had  turned 
traitor;  another  day  that  Gates  had  been  routed 
at  Camden  and  Kalb  killed.  In  December  Ter- 
nay  died.  In  January,  worse  than  all,  the  sol- 
diers of  the  Pennsylvania  line  mutinied;  unpaid, 
underfed,  kept  under  the  flag  long  after  the  time 
for  which  they  had  enlisted,  "they  went,"  Closen 


48  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

writes  in  his  journal,  "to  extremities.     In  Europe 
they  would  not  have  waited  so  long." 

There  was  no  doubt,  in  fact,  that  the  life  they 
had  to  lead  did  not  closely  resemble  that  which, 
in  accordance  with  the  uses  then  prevailing  in 
every  country,  the  posters  urging  enlistment  de- 
picted to  them.  One  such  poster,  preserved  in 
Philadelphia,  announces  "to  all  brave,  healthy, 
able-bodied,  and  well-disposed  young  men  in  this 
neighborhood  who  have  any  inclination  to  join  the 
troops  now  raising,  under  General  Washington, 
for  the  defense  of  the  liberties  and  independence 
of  the  United  States,"  a  "truly  liberal  and  gener- 
ous [encouragement],  namely,  a  bounty  of  twelve 
dollars,  an  annual  and  fully  sufficient  supply  of 
good  and  handsome  clothing,  a  daily  allowance 
of  a  large  and  ample  ration  of  provisions,  together 
with  sixty  dollars  a  year  in  gold  and  silver  money 
on  account  of  pay."  The  appeal  vaunted,  by 
way  of  conclusion,  "the  great  advantages  which 
these  brave  men  will  have  who  shall  embrace  this 
opportunity  of  spending  a  few  happy  years  in 
viewing  the  different  parts  of  this  beautiful  con- 
tinent, in  the  honorable  and  truly  respectable 
character  of  a  soldier,  after  which  he  may,  if  he 
pleases,  return  home  to  his  friends  with  his  pockets 
full  of  money  and  his  head  covered  with  laurels. 
God  save  the  United  States  !"  Pretty  engravings 
showed  handsome  soldiers,  elegantly  dressed,  prac- 
tising an  easy  kind  of  military  drill. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  49 

The  danger  was  great,  but  brief;  tempted  by 
the  enemy  to  change  sides  and  receive  full  pay, 
the  Pennsylvania  line  refused  indignantly.  "We 
are  honest  soldiers,  asking  justice  from  our  com- 
patriots," they  answered,  "we  are  not  traitors.'* 
On  the  margin  of  a  French  account  of  those  events, 
published  in  Paris  in  1787,  Clinton  scribbled  a 
number  of  observations  hitherto  unprinted.1  They 
are  in  French,  or  something  like  it.  Opposite  this 
statement  the  British  general  wrote:  "Est  bien 
dit  et  c'est  dommage  qu'il  n'est  pas  vrai."  We  can- 
not tell,  but  one  thing  is  sure,  namely,  that  in 
accordance  with  those  words,  spoken  or  not,  the 
rebellious  soldiers  acted.  Owing  to  Washington's 
influence,  order  soon  reigned  again,  but  the  alarm 
had  been  very  great,  as  shown  by  the  instruc- 
tions which  he  handed  to  Colonel  Laurens,  now 
sent  by  him  to  Versailles  with  a  mission  similar 
to  that  of  young  Rochambeau.  The  emotion 
caused  by  the  last  events  is  reflected  in  them: 
"The  patience  of  the  American  army  is  almost 
exhausted.  .  .  .  The  great  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants is  still  firmly  attached  to  the  cause  of 
independence,"  but  that  cause  may  be  wrecked 
if  more  money,  more  men,  and  more  ships  are 
not  immediately  supplied  by  the  French  ally. 2 

While  the  presence  of  the  American  and  French 

1  Histoire  des  Troubles  de  VAmtrique  Anglaise,  by  Soul£s;  Clinton's 
copy,  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  p.  360. 

2  January  15,  1781. 


50  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

troops  in  the  North  kept  Clinton  and  his  power- 
ful New  York  garrison  immobile  where  they  were, 
the  situation  in  the  South  was  becoming  worse 
and  worse,  with  Cornwallis  at  the  head  of  supe- 
rior forces,  Lord  Rawdon  holding  Charleston,  and 
the  hated  Arnold  ravaging  Virginia. 

Against  them  the  American  forces  under  Greene, 
Lafayette,  and  Morgan  (who  had  partly  de- 
stroyed Tarleton's  cavalry  at  Cowpens,  January 
17)  were  doing  their  utmost,  facing  fearful  odds. 
With  a  handful  of  men,  knowing  that  the  slightest 
error  might  be  his  destruction,  young  Lafayette, 
aged  twenty-four,  far  from  help  and  advice,  was 
conducting  a  campaign  in  which  his  pluck,  wisdom, 
and  tenacity  won  him  the  admiration  of  veterans. 
Irritated  ever  to  find  him  on  his  path,  Cornwallis 
was  writing  a  little  later  to  Clinton:  "If  I  can 
get  an  opportunity  to  strike  a  blow  at  him  with- 
out loss  of  time,  I  will  certainly  try  it."  But  La- 
fayette would  not  let  his  adversary  thus  employ 
his  leisure. 

To  arrest  the  progress  of  Arnold  two  French 
expeditions  were  sent,  taking  advantage  of  mo- 
ments when  access  to  the  sea  was  not  blocked  by 
the  English  fleet  before  Newport,  one  in  Feb- 
ruary, under  Tilly,  who  pursued  Arnold's  convoy 
up  the  Elizabeth  River  as  high  as  the  draft  of 
his  ships  permitted,  but  had  to  stop  and  come 
home,  having  only  captured  the  Romulus,  of  44 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  51 

guns,  some  smaller  ships,  a  quantity  of  supplies 
destined  for  Arnold,  and  made  550  prisoners;  an- 
other of  more  importance  under  the  Chevalier  Des- 
touches,  in  March,  with  part  of  Rochambeau's 
army  on  board,  in  case  a  landing  were  possible. 
In  spite  of  all  precautions,  Destouches's  intentions 
were  discovered;  the  English  fleet  engaged  ours; 
the  fight,  in  which  72  French  lost  their  lives  and 
112  were  wounded,  was  a  creditable  one  and 
might  easily  have  ended  in  disaster,  for  the  enemy 
had  more  guns,  and  several  of  our  ships,  on  ac- 
count of  their  not  being  copper-lined,  were  slow; 
but  clever  manoeuvring,  however,  compensated 
those  defects.  Congress  voted  thanks,  but  the 
situation  remained  the  same.  ' '  And  now, ' '  Closen 
noted  down  in  his  journal,  "we  have  Arnold  free 
to  act  as  he  pleases,  Virginia  desolated  by  his  in- 
cursions, and  M.  de  Lafayette  too  weak  to  do 
anything  but  keep  on  the  defensive." 


One  day,  however,  something  would  have  to  be 
done,  and,  in  order  to  be  ready,  Rochambeau  kept 
his  army  busy  with  manoeuvres,  military  exer- 
cises, sham  warfare  ("le  simulacre  de  la  petite 
guerre")*  and  the  building  of  fortifications.  As 
for  his  officers,  he  encouraged  them  to  travel,  for 
a  large  part  of  the  land  was  free  of  enemies,  and 
to  become  better  acquainted  with  these  "Ameri- 
can brothers,"  whom  they  had  come  to  fight  for. 
French  officers  were  thus  seen  at  Boston,  Albany, 
West  Point,  Philadelphia.  It  was  at  this  period 
that  Chastellux  went  about  the  country  with 
some  of  his  companions,  and  gathered  the  material 
for  his  well-known  Voyages  dans  I'Amerique  du 
Nordy  the  first  edition  of  which,  in  a  much  abbre- 
viated form,  was  issued  by  that  printing-press  of 
the  fleet  which  Rochambeau  had  recommended  to 
himself  not  to  forget:  "De  rimprimerie  Royale 
de  1'Escadre,"  one  reads  on  the  title-page.  Only 
twenty-three  copies  were  struck  off;  the  "Im- 
primerie  Royale"  of  the  fleet  had  obviously  no 
superabundance  of  type  nor  of  paper. 

Closen,  who,  to  his  joy  and  surprise,  had  been 
made  a  member  of  Rochambeau's  "family,"  that 
is,  had  been  appointed  one  of  his  aides,  as  soon 

52 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  53 

as  his  new  duties  left  him  some  leisure,  began, 
with  his  methodical  mind,  to  study,  he  tells  us, 
"the  Constitution  of  the  thirteen  States  and  of 
the  Congress  of  America,"  meaning,  of  course,  at 
that  date,  their  several  constitutions,  which  or- 
ganization, "as  time  has  shown,  is  well  adapted 
to  the  national  character  and  has  made  the  hap- 
piness of  that  people  so  respectable  from  every 
point  of  view."  He  began  after  this  to  examine 
the  products  of  the  soil  of  Rhode  Island,  "per- 
haps one  of  the  prettiest  islands  on  the  globe." 

The  stay  being  prolonged,  the  officers  began  to 
make  acquaintances,  to  learn  English,  to  gain 
access  to  American  society.  It  was  at  first  very- 
difficult  ;  neither  French  nor  American  understood 
each  other's  language;  so  recourse  was  bravely 
had  to  Latin,  better  known  then  than  to-day. 
"Quid  de  meo,  mi  carissime  Drowne,  cogitas  si- 
lentio  f"  A  long  letter  follows,  in  affectionate 
terms  addressed  to  Doctor  Drowne,  a  Newport 
physician,  and  signed:  "Silly,  officier  au  regiment 
de  Bourbonnois,"  September  9,  1780.  Sublieuten- 
ant de  Silly  announced,  however,  his  intention  to 
learn  English  during  the  winter  season :  "Inglicam 
linguam  no s cere  conabor."  His  letters  of  an  after- 
date are,  in  fact,  written  in  English,  but  a  be- 
ginner's English.1 

1  Specimens  exhibited  by  the  doctor's  descendant  in  the  Fraunces's 
Tavern  Museum. 


54  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

For  the  use  of  Latin  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  French  army  was  able  to  set  the  example,  and 
Ezra  Stiles  could  talk  at  a  dinner  in  that  language 
with  Rochambeau,  still  reminiscent  of  what  he 
had  learned  when  studying  for  priesthood.  The 
president  of  Yale  notes  in  his  journal: 

"5  [October,  1780].  Introduced  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  French  allied  army,  the 
Count  de  Rochambeau.  .  .  . 

"7.  Dined  at  the  General  de  Rochambeau's, 
in  a  splendid  manner.  There  were,  perhaps,  thirty 
at  table.  I  conversed  with  the  general  in  Latin. 
He  speaks  it  tolerably." 

Beginning  to  know  something  of  the  language, 
our  officers  risk  paying  visits  and  go  to  teas  and 
dinners.  Closen  notes  with  curiosity  all  he  sees: 
"It  is  good  behavior  each  time  people  meet  to 
accost  each  other,  mutually  offering  the  hand  and 
shaking  it,  English  fashion.  Arriving  in  a  com- 
pany of  men,  one  thus  goes  around,  but  must  re- 
member that  it  belongs  to  the  one  of  higher  rank 
to  extend  his  hand  first." 

Unspeakable  quantities  of  tea  are  drunk.  "To 
crave  mercy,  when  one  has  taken  half  a  dozen 
cups,  one  must  put  the  spoon  across  the  cup;  for 
so  long  as  you  do  not  place  it  so,  your  cup  is  al- 
ways taken,  rinsed,  filled  again,  and  placed  be- 
fore you.  After  the  first,  the  custom  is  for  the 
pretty  pourer  (verseuse) — most  of  them  are  so — 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  55 

to  ask  you:  Is  the  tea  suitable?"1 — "An  insipid 
drink,"  grumbles  Chaplain  Robin,  over  whom 'the 
prettiness  of  the  pourers  was  powerless. 

The  toasts  are  also  a  very  surprising  custom, 
sometimes  an  uncomfortable  one.  "One  is  ter- 
ribly fatigued  by  the  quantity  of  healths  which  are 
being  drunk  (toasts).  From  one  end  of  the  table 
to  the  other  a  gentleman  pledges  you,  sometimes 
with  only  a  glance,  which  means  that  you  should 
drink  a  glass  of  wine  with  him,  a  compliment 
which  cannot  be  politely  ignored." 

In  the  course  of  an  excursion  to  Boston  the 
young  captain  visits  an  assembly  of  Quakers, 
"where,  unluckily,  no  one  was  inspired,  and  ennui 
seemed  consequently  to  reign." 

But  what  strikes  him  more  than  anything  else 
is  the  beauty  of  those  young  ladies  who  made  him 
drink  so  much  tea:  "Nature  has  endowed  the 
ladies  of  Rhode  Island  with  the  handsomest,  finest 
features  one  can  imagine;  their  complexion  is 
clear  and  white;  their  hands  and  feet  usually 
small."  But  let  not  the  ladies  of  other  States 
be  tempted  to  resent  this  preference.  One  sees 
later  that  in  each  city  he  visits  young  Closen  is 
similarly  struck,  and  that,  more  considerate  than 
the  shepherd  Paris,  he  somehow  manages  to  re- 
fuse the  apple  to  none.  On  the  Boston  ladies  he 
is  quite  enthusiastic,  on  the  Philadelphia  ones  not 

1  In  English  in  the  original. 


56  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

less;  he  finds,  however,  the  latter  a  little  too 
serious,  which  he  attributes  to  the  presence  of 
Congress  in  that  city. 

But,  above  all,  the  object  of  my  compatriots' 
curiosity  was  the  great  man,  the  one  of  whom 
they  had  heard  so  much  on  the  other  side,  the 
personification  of  the  new-born  ideas  of  liberty 
and  popular  government,  George  Washington. 
All  wanted  to  see  him,  and  as  soon  as  permission 
to  travel  was  granted  several  managed  to  reach 
his  camp.  For  all  of  them,  different  as  they  might 
be  in  rank  and  character,  the  impression  was  the 
same  and  fulfilled  expectation,  beginning  with 
Rochambeau,  who  saw  him  for  the  first  time  at  the 
Hartford  conferences,  in  September,  1780,  when 
they  tried  to  draw  a  first  plan  for  a  combined 
action.  A  friendship  then  commenced  between 
the  two  that  was  long  to  survive  those  eventful 
years.  "From  the  moment  we  began  to  corre- 
spond with  one  another,"  Rochambeau  wrote  in 
his  memoirs,  "I  never  ceased  to  enjoy  the  sound- 
ness of  his  judgment  and  the  amenity  of  his  style 
in  a  very  long  correspondence,  which  is  likely 
not  to  end  before  the  death  of  one  of  us." 

Chastellux,  who  saw  him  at  his  camp,  where  the 
band  of  the  American  army  played  for  him  the 
"March  of  the  Huron,"  could  draw  from  life  his 
well-known  description  of  him,  ending:  "North- 
ern America,  from  Boston  to  Charleston,  is  a 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  57 

great  book  every  page  of  which  tells  his  praise."1 
Count  de  Segur  says  that  he  apprehended  his  ex- 
pectations could  not  be  equalled  by  reality,  but 
they  were.  "His  exterior  almost  told  his  story. 
Simplicity,  grandeur,  dignity,  calm,  kindness, 
firmness  shone  in  his  physiognomy  as  well  as  in 
his  character.  He  was  of  a  noble  and  high  sta- 
ture, his  expression  was  gentle  and  kindly,  his 
smile  pleasing,  his  manners  simple  without  famili- 
arity. .  .  -.  All  in  him  announced  the  hero  of  a 
republic."  "I  have  seen  Washington,"  says  Abbe 
Robin,  "the  soul  and  support  of  one  of  the  great- 
est revolutions  that  ever  happened.  ...  In  a 
country  where  every  individual  has  a  part  in  su- 
preme authority  ...  he  has  been  able  to  main- 
tain his  troops  in  absolute  subordination,  render 
them  jealous  of  his  praise,  make  them  fear  his 
very  silence."  Closen  was  one  day  sent  with  de- 
spatches to  the  great  man  and,  like  all  the  others, 
began  to  worship  him. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  mission  Washington 
came,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1781,  to  visit  the 
French  camp  and  fleet.  He  was  received  with 
the  honors  due  to  a  marshal  of  France,  the  ships 
were  dressed,  the  troops,  in  their  best  uniforms, 
"dans  la  plus  grande  tenue,"  lined  the  streets  from 

1  Voyages  de  M.  le  Marquis  de  Chastellux  dans  VAmerlque  Septen- 
trionale,  dans  les  annees  1780,  1781  el  1782,  Paris,  1786,  2  vols.,  I, 
118. 


58  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Rochambeau's  house  (the  fine  Vernon  house,  still 
in  existence1)  to  the  harbor;  the  roar  and  smoke 
of  the  guns  rose  in  honor  of  the  "hero  of  liberty.'* 
Washington  saw  Destouches's  fleet  sail  for  its 
Southern  expedition  and  wished  it  Godspeed; 
and  after  a  six  days*  stay,  enlivened  by  "illumina- 
tions, dinners,  and  balls,"  he  left  on  the  isth. 
"I  can  say,"  we  read  in  Closen's  journal,  "that 
he  carried  away  with  him  the  regrets,  the  at- 
tachment, the  respect,  and  the  veneration  of  all 
our  army."  Summing  up  his  impression,  he  adds : 
"All  in  him  betokens  a  great  man  with  an  excel- 
lent heart.  Enough  good  will  never  be  said  of 
him." 

1  Now  the  property  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society.  See  A 
History  of  the  Vernon  House,  by  Maud  Lyman  Stevens,  Newport, 
R.  I.,  1915.  Illustrated. 


VI 

On  the  8th  of  May,  1781,  the  Concorde  arrived 
at  Boston,  having  on  board  Count  de  Barras,  "a 
commodore  with  the  red  ribbon,"  of  the  same 
family  as  the  future  member  of  the  "Directoire," 
and  who  was  to  replace  Ternay.  With  him  was 
Viscount  Rochambeau,  bringing  to  his  father  the 
unwelcome  news  that  no  second  division  was  to 
be  expected.  "My  son  has  returned  very  soli- 
tary," was  the  only  remonstrance  the  general  sent 
to  the  minister.  But  the  young  colonel  was  able 
to  give,  at  the  same  time,  news  of  great  impor- 
tance. A  new  fleet  under  Count  de  Grasse  had 
been  got  together,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Con- 
corde's departure  had  just  sailed  for  the  West 
Indies,  so  that  a  temporary  domination  of  the 
sea  might  become  a  possibility.  "Nothing  with- 
out naval  supremacy,"  Rochambeau  had  written, 
as  we  know,  in  his  note-book  before  starting. 

In  spite,  moreover,  of  "hard  times,"  wrote 
Vergennes  to  La  Luzerne,  and  of  the  already  dis- 
quieting state  of  our  finances,  a  new  "gratuitous 
subsidy  of  six  million  livres  tournois"  was  granted 
to  the  Americans.  Some  funds  had  already  been 
sent  to  Rochambeau,  one  million  and  a  half  in 


60  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

February,  with  a  letter  of  Necker  saying:  "Be 
assured,  sir,  that  all  that  will  be  asked  from  the 
Finance  Department  for  your  army  will  be  made 
ready  on  the  instant."  Seven  millions  arrived  a 
little  later,  brought  by  the  Astree,  which  had 
crossed  the  ocean  in  sixty-seven  days,  without 
mishap.  As  for  troops,  only  600  recruits  arrived 
at  Boston,  in  June,  with  the  Sagittaire. 

Since  nothing  more  was  to  be  expected,  the 
hour  had  come  for  definitive  decisions.  A  great 
effort  must  now  be  made,  the  great  effort  in  view 
of  which  all  the  rest  had  been  done,  the  one  which 
might  bring  about  peace  and  American  liberty 
or  end  in  lasting  failure.  All  felt  the  importance 
and  solemnity  of  the  hour.  The  great  question 
was  what  should  be  attempted — the  storming  of 
New  York  or  the  relief  of  the  South  ? 

The  terms  of  the  problem  had  been  amply  dis- 
cussed in  letters  and  conferences  between  the 
chiefs,  and  the  discussion  still  continued.  The 
one  who  first  made  up  his  mind  and  ceased  to 
hesitate  between  the  respective  advantages  or 
disadvantages  of  the  two  projects,  and  who  plainly 
declared  that  there  was  but  one  good  plan,  which 
was  to  reconquer  the  South,  that  one,  strange  to 
say,  was  neither  Washington  nor  Rochambeau, 
and  was  not  in  the  United  States  either  as  a 
sailor  or  a  soldier,  but  as  a  diplomat,  and  in  draw- 
ing attention  to  the  fact  I  am  only  performing 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  61 

the  most  agreeable  duty  toward  a  justly  admired 
predecessor.  This  wise  adviser  was  La  Luzerne. 
In  an  unpublished  memoir,  drawn  up  by  him  on 
the  2oth  of  April  and  sent  to  Rochambeau  on 
May  19  with  an  explanatory  letter  in  which  he 
asked  that  his  statement  (a  copy  of  which  he  also 
sent  to  B  arras)  be  placed  under  the  eyes  of  Wash- 
ington, he  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  immediate 
action,  and  action  in  the  Chesapeake:  "It  is  in 
the  Chesapeake  Bay  that  it  seems  urgent  to  con- 
vey all  the  naval  forces  of  the  King,  with  such 
land  forces  as  the  generals  will  consider  appro- 
priate. This  change  cannot  fail  to  have  the  most 
advantageous  consequences  for  the  continuation 
of  the  campaign,"  which  consequences  he  points 
out  with  singular  clear-sightedness,  adding:  "If 
the  English  follow  us  and  can  reach  the  bay  only 
after  us,  their  situation  will  prove  very  different 
from  ours;  all  the  coasts  and  the  inland  parts  of 
the  country  are  full  of  their  enemies.  They  have 
neither  the  means  nor  the  time  to  raise,  as  at 
New  York,  the  necessary  works  to  protect  them- 
selves against  the  inroads  of  the  American  troops 
and  to  save  themselves  from  the  danger  to  which 
the  arrival  of  superior  forces  would  expose  them." 
If  the  plan  submitted  by  him  offers  difficulties, 
others  should  be  formed,  but  he  maintains  that 
"all  those  which  have  for  their  object  the  relief 
of  the  Southern  States  must  be  preferred,  and  that 


62  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

no  time  should  be  lost  to  put  them  in  execu- 
tion." 

At  the  Weathersfield  conference,  near  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  between  the  Americans  and  French, 
on  the  23d  of  May  (in  the  Webb  house,  still  in 
existence),  Washington  still  evinced,  and  not 
without  some  weighty  reasons,  his  preference  for 
an  attack  on  New  York.  He  spoke  of  the  ad- 
vanced season,  of  "the  great  waste  of  men  which 
we  have  found  from  experience  in  long  marches 
in  the  Southern  States,"  of  the  "difficulty  of 
transports  by  land";  all  those  reasons  and  some 
others,  "too  well  known  to  Count  de  Rochambeau 
to  need  repeating,  show  that  an  operation  against 
New  York  should  be  preferred,  in  the  present  cir- 
cumstances, to  the  effort  of  a  sending  of  troops 
to  the  South."  On  the  same  day  he  was  writing 
to  La  Luzerne:  "I  should  be  wanting  in  respect 
and  confidence  were  I  not  to  add  that  our  object 
is  New  York." 

La  Luzerne,  however,  kept  on  insisting.  To 
Rochambeau  he  wrote  on  the  ist  of  June:  "The 
situation  of  the  Southern  States  becomes  every 
moment  more  critical;  it  has  even  become  very 
dangerous,  and  every  measure  that  could  be  taken 
for  their  relief  would  be  of  infinite  advantage. 
.  .  .  The  situation  of  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 
and  that  of  General  Greene  is  most  embarrassing, 
since  Lord  Cornwallis  has  joined  the  English  divi- 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  63 

sion  of  the  Chesapeake.  If  Virginia  is  not  helped 
in  time,  the  English  will  have  reached  the  goal 
which  they  have  assigned  to  themselves  in  the 
bold  movements  attempted  by  them  in  the  South : 
they  will  soon  have  really  conquered  the  Southern 
States.  ...  I  am  going  to  write  to  M.  de  Grasse 
as  you  want  me  to  do;  on  your  side,  seize  every 
occasion  to  write  to  him,  and  multiply  the  copies 
of  the  letters  you  send  him,"  that  is,  in  duplicate 
and  triplicate,  for  fear  of  loss  or  capture.  "His 
coming  to  the  rescue  of  the  oppressed  States  is 
not  simply  desirable;  the  thing  seems  to  be  now 
of  the  most  pressing  necessity."  He  must  not 
only  come,  but  bring  with  him  all  he  can  find  of 
French  troops  in  our  isles:  thus  would  be  com- 
pensated, to  a  certain  extent,  the  absence  of  the 
second  division. 

Rochambeau  soon  agreed,  and,  with  his  usual 
wisdom,  Washington  was  not  long  in  doing  the 
same.  On  the  28th  of  May  the  French  general 
had  already  written  to  de  Grasse,  beseeching  him 
to  come  with  every  means  at  his  disposal,  to  bring 
his  whole  fleet,  and  not  only  his  fleet,  but  a  sup- 
ply of  money,  to  be  borrowed  in  our  colonies, 
and  also  all  the  French  land  forces  from  our  gar- 
risons which  he  could  muster.  The  desire  of  Saint- 
Simon  to  come  and  help  had,  of  course,  not  been 
forgotten  by  Rochambeau,  and  he  counted  on 
his  good- will.  After  having  described  the  ex- 


64  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

treme  importance  of  the  effort  to  be  attempted, 
he  concluded:  "The  crisis  through  which  America 
is  passing  at  this  moment  is  of  the  severest.  The 
coming  of  Count  de  Grasse  may  be  salvation." 

Events  had  so  shaped  themselves  that  the  fate 
of  the  United  States  and  the  destinies  of  more 
than  one  nation  would  be,  for  a  few  weeks,  in  the 
hands  of  one  man,  and  one  greatly  hampered  by 
imperative  instructions  obliging  him,  at  a  time 
when  there  was  no  steam  to  command  the  wind 
and  waves,  to  be  at  a  fixed  date  in  the  West 
Indies,  owing  to  certain  arrangements  with  Spain. 
Would  he  take  the  risk,  and  what  would  be  the 
answer  of  that  temporary  arbiter  of  future  events, 
Francois  Joseph  Paul  Comte  de  Grasse,  a  sailor 
from  the  age  of  twelve,  now  a  lieutenant-gen- 
eral and  "chef  d'escadre,"  who  had  seen  already 
much  service  on  every  sea,  in  the  East  and  West 
Indies,  with  d'Orvilliers  at  Ushant,  with  Guichen 
against  Rodney  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  a  haughty 
man,  it  was  said,  with  some  friends  and  many 
enemies,  the  one  quality  of  his  acknowledged  by 
friend  and  foe  being  valor?  "Our  admiral,"  his 
sailors  were  wont  to  say,  "is  six  foot  tall  on  ordi- 
nary days,  and  six  foot  six  on  battle  days." 

What  would  he  do  and  say?  People  in  those 
times  had  to  take  their  chance  and  act  in  accor- 
dance with  probabilities.  This  Washington  and 
Rochambeau  did.  By  the  beginning  of  June  all 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  65 

was  astir  in  the  northern  camp.  Soldiers  did  not 
know  what  was  contemplated,  but  obviously  it 
was  something  great.  Young  officers  exulted. 
What  joy  to  have  at  last  the  prospect  of  an 
"active  campaign,"  wrote  Closen  in  his  journal, 
' '  and  to  have  an  occasion  to  visit  other  provinces 
and  see  the  differences  in  manners,  customs,  prod- 
ucts, and  trade  of  our  good  Americans!" 

The  camp  is  raised  and  the  armies  are  on  the 
move  toward  New  York  and  the  South;  they  are 
in  the  best  dispositions,  ready,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, to  fight  or  admire  all  that  turns  up. 
"The  country  between  Providence  and  Bristol," 
says  Closen,  "is  charming.  We  thought  we  had 
been  transported  into  Paradise,  all  the  roads  being 
lined  with  acacias  in  full  bloom,  filling  the  air  with 
a  delicious,  almost  too  strong  fragrance."  Steeples 
are  climbed,  and  "the  sight  is  one  of  the  finest 
possible."  Snakes  are  somewhat  troublesome,  but 
such  things  will  happen,  even  in  Paradise.  The 
heat  becomes  very  great,  and  night  marches  are 
arranged,  beginning  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing; roads  at  times  become  muddy  paths,  where 
wagons,  artillery,  carts  conveying  boats  for  the 
crossing  of  rivers  cause  great  trouble  and  delay. 
Poor  Abbe  Robin,  ill-prepared  for  martyrdom, 
becomes  pathetic,  talking  of  his  own  fate,  fearful 
of  being  captured  by  the  English  and  of  becoming 
' '  the  victim  of  those  anti-republicans. ' '  He  sleeps 


66  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

on  the  ground,  under  a  torrential  rain,  "in  front 
of  a  great  fire,  roasted  on  one  side,  drenched  on  the 
other."  He  finds,  however,  that  "French  gayety 
remains  ever  present  in  these  hard  marches. 
The  Americans  whom  curiosity  brings  by  the 
thousand  to  our  camps  are  received,"  he  writes, 
"with  lively  joy;  we  cause  our  military  instruments 
to  play  for  them,  of  which  they  are  passionately 
fond.  Officers  and  soldiers,  then,  American  men 
and  women  mix  and  dance  together;  it  is  the 
Feast  of  Equality,  the  first-fruits  of  the  alliance 
which  must  prevail  between  those  nations.  .  .  . 
These  people  are  still  in  the  happy  period  when 
distinctions  of  rank  and  birth  are  ignored;  they 
treat  alike  the  soldier  and  the  officer,  and  often 
ask  the  latter  what  is  his  profession  in  his  country, 
unable  as  they  are  to  imagine  that  that  of  a  war- 
rior may  be  a  fixed  and  permanent  one." 

Washington  writes  to  recommend  precautions 
against  spies,  who  will  be  sent  to  the  French 
camp,  dressed  as  peasants,  bringing  fruit  and 
other  provisions,  and  who  "will  be  attentive  to 
every  word  which  they  may  hear  drop."1 

Several  officers,  for  the  sake  of  example,  dis- 
card their  horses  and  walk,  indifferent  to  mud 
and  heat;  some  of  them,  like  the  Viscount  de 
Noailles,  performing  on  foot  the  whole  distance 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty-six  miles  between 

^o  Rochambeau,  June  30,  1781. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  67 

Newport  and  Yorktown.  Cases  of  sickness  were 
rare.  "The  attention  of  the  superior  officers," 
says  Abbe  Robin,  "very  much  contributed  to 
this,  by  the  care  they  took  in  obliging  the  soldiers 
to  drink  no  water  without  rum  in  it  to  remove 
its  noisome  qualities."  It  is  not  reported  that 
superior  officers  had  to  use  violence  to  be  obeyed. 
This  precaution,  up  to  a  recent  date,  was  still 
considered  a  wise  one;  in  the  long  journeys  on 
foot  that  we  used  to  take  in  my  youth  across  the 
Alps,  our  tutor  was  convinced  that  no  water  mi- 
crobe could  resist  the  addition  of  a  little  kirsch. 
Anyway,  we  resisted  the  microbes. 

On  the  6th  of  July  the  junction  of  the  two 
armies  took  place  at  Phillipsburg,  "three  leagues," 
Rochambeau  writes,  "from  Kingsbridge,  the  first 
post  of  the  enemy  in  the  island  of  New  York,"1 
the  American  army  having  followed  the  left  bank 
of  the  Hudson  in  order  to  reach  the  place  of 
meeting.  On  the  receipt  of  the  news,  Lord  Ger- 
main, the  British  colonial  secretary,  wrote  to 
Clinton,  who  commanded  in  chief  at  New  York: 
"The  junction  of  the  French  troops  with  the 

1  This  island's  aspect  fifteen  years  later  is  thus  described  by  Duke 
de  La  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt:  "Enfin  nous  sommes  arrives  a 
King's  Bridge  dans  File  de  New  York,  ou  le  terrain,  gen6ralement 
mauvais,  est  encore  en  mauvais  bois  dans  les  parties  les  plus  eloignees 
de  la  ville,  et  ou  il  est  cependant  couvert  de  fermes  et  surtout  de 
maisons  de  campagne  dans  les  six  ou  sept  milles  qui  s'en  approchent 
davantage  et  dans  les  parties  qui  avoisinent  la  riviere  du  Nord  et  le 
bras  de  mer  qui  separe  cette  ile  de  Long  Island."  Voyage,  V,  300. 


68  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Americans  will,  I  am  persuaded,  soon  produce 
disagreements  and  discontents,  and  Mr.  Wash- 
ington will  find  it  necessary  to  separate  them  very 
speedily,  either  by  detaching  the  Americans  to 
the  southward  or  suffering  the  French  to  return 
to  Rhode  Island.  .  .  .  But  I  trust,  before  that 
can  happen,  Lord  Cornwallis  will  have  given  the 
loyal  inhabitants  on  both  sides  of  the  Chesapeake 
the  opportunity  they  have  so  long  ago  earnestly 
desired  of  avowing  their  principles  and  standing 
forth  in  support  of  the  King's  measures."  Similar 
proofs  of  my  lord's  acumen  abound  in  his  partly 
unpublished  correspondence.  He  goes  on  rejoicing 
and  deducting  all  the  happy  consequences  which 
were  sure  to  result  from  the  meeting  of  the  French 
and  American  troops,  so  blandly  elated  at  the 
prospect  as  to  remind  any  one  familiar  with  La 
Fontaine's  fables,  of  Perrette  and  her  milk-pot. 

Washington,  in  the  meantime,  was  reviewing 
the  French  troops  (July  9),  and  Rochambeau 
the  American  ones,  and — a  fact  which  would 
have  greatly  surprised  Lord  Germain — the  worse 
equipped  the  latter  were,  the  greater  the  sym- 
pathy and  admiration  among  the  French  for 
their  endurance.  "Those  brave  people,"  wrote 
Closen,  "it  really  pained  us  to  see,  almost  naked, 
with  mere  linen  vests  and  trousers,  most  of  them 
without  stockings ;  but,  would  you  believe  it  ? 
looking  very  healthy  and  in  the  best  of  spirits." 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  69 

And  further  on :  "I  am  full  of  admiration  for  the 
American  troops.  It  is  unbelievable  that  troops 
composed  of  men  of  all  ages,  even  of  children  of 
fifteen,  of  blacks  and  whites,  all  nearly  naked, 
without  money,  poorly  fed,  should  walk  so  well 
and  stand  the  enemy's  fire  with  such  firmness. 
The  calmness  of  mind  and  the  clever  combina- 
tions of  General  Washington,  in  whom  I  discover 
every  day  new  eminent  qualities,  are  already 
enough  known,  and  the  whole  universe  respects 
and  admires  him.  Certain  it  is  that  he  is  admi- 
rable at  the  head  of  his  army,  every  member  of 
which  considers  him  as  his  friend  and  father." 
These  sentiments,  which  were  unanimous  in  the 
French  army,  assuredly  did  not  betoken  the 
clash  counted  upon  by  the  English  colonial  secre- 
tary, and  more  than  one  of  our  officers  who  had,  a 
few  years  later,  to  take  part  in  another  Revolu- 
tion must  have  been  reminded  of  the  Continental 
soldiers  of  '81  as  they  led  to  battle,  fighting  for  a 
similar  cause,  our  volunteers  of  '92. 

No  real  hatred,  any  more  than  before,  appeared 
among  the  French  troops  for  those  enemies  whom 
they  were  now  nearing,  and  with  whom  they  had 
already  had  some  sanguinary  skirmishes.  Dur- 
ing the  intervals  between  military  operations  re- 
lations were  courteous,  and  at  times  amicable. 
The  English  gave  to  the  French  news  of  Europe, 
even  when  the  news  was  good  for  the  latter,  and 


70  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

passed  to  them  newspapers.  "We  learned  that 
news"  (Necker's  resignation),  writes  Blanchard, 
"through  the  English,  who  often  sent  trumpeters 
and  passed  gazettes  to  us.  We  learned  from  the 
same  papers  that  Mr.  de  La  Motte-Picquet  had 
captured  a  rich  convoy.1  These  exchanges  be- 
tween the  English  and  us  did  not  please  the 
Americans,  nor  even  General  Washington,  who 
were  unaccustomed  to  this  kind  of  warfare." 
The  fight  was  really  for  an  idea,  but,  what  might 
have  dispelled  any  misgivings,  with  no  possibility 
of  a  change  of  idea. 

1  The  convoy  was  carrying  to  England  the  enormous  booty  taken 
by  Rodney  at  St.  Eustatius.  Eighteen  of  its  ships  were  captured  by 
La  Motte-Picquet  (May  2, 1781)  and  thus  reached  France  instead  of 
England. 

Toward  the  Hessians,  however,  the  feeling  was  different.  Some 
had  deserted  to  enlist  in  Lauzun's  legion,  but  they  almost  immediately 
counterdeserted,  upon  which  Rochambeau  wrote  to  Lauzun:  "You 
have  done  the  best  in  deciding  never  to  pester  yourself  again  with 
Hessian  deserters,  of  whom,  you  know,  I  never  had  a  good  opinion." 
Newport,  December  22,  1780. 


VII 

Two  unknown  factors  now  were  for  the  gen- 
erals the  cause  of  deep  concern.  What  would  de 
Grasse  do  ?  What  would  Clinton  do  ?  The 
wounded  officer  of  Johannisberg,  the  winner  of 
Charleston,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  a  lieutenant- 
general  and  former  member  of  Parliament,  en- 
joying great  repute,  was  holding  New  York,  not 
yet  the  second  city  of  the  world  nor  even  the 
first  of  the  United  States,  covering  only  with  its 
modest  houses,  churches,  and  gardens  the  lower 
part  of  Manhattan,  and  reduced,  owing  to  the 
war,  to  10,000  inhabitants.  But,  posted  there, 
the  English  commander  threatened  the  road  on 
which  the  combined  armies  had  to  move.  He 
had  at  his  disposal  immense  stores,  strong  forti- 
fications, a  powerful  fleet  to  second  his  move- 
ments, and  troops  equal  in  number  and  training 
to  ours. 

There  are  periods  in  the  history  of  nations 
when,  after  a  continuous  series  of  misfortunes, 
when  despair  would  have  seemed  excusable,  sud- 
denly the  sky  clears  and  everything  turns  their 
way.  In  the  War  of  American  Independence, 
such  a  period  had  begun.  The  armies  of  Wash- 
ington and  Rochambeau,  encumbered  with  their 

71 


72  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

carts,  wagons,  and  artillery,  had  to  pass  rivers, 
to  cross  hilly  regions,  to  follow  muddy  tracks; 
any  serious  attempt  against  them  might  have 
proved  fatal,  but  nothing  was  tried.  It  was  of 
the  greatest  importance  that  Clinton  should,  as 
long  as  possible,  have  no  intimation  of  the  real 
plans  of  the  Franco- Americans ;  everything  helped 
to  mislead  him:  his  natural  dispositions  as  well 
as  circumstances.  He  had  an  unshakable  con- 
viction that  the  key  to  the  whole  situation  was 
New  York,  and  that  the  royal  power  in  America, 
and  he,  too,  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Henry  Clin- 
ton, would  stand  or  fall  with  that  city.  Hence 
his  disinclination  to  leave  it  and  to  attempt  any- 
thing outside.  His  instructions  ordered  him  to 
help  Cornwallis  to  his  utmost,  the  plan  of  the 
British  court  being  to  conquer  the  Southern 
States  first  and  then  continue  the  conquest  north- 
ward. But  he,  on  the  contrary,  was  day  after 
day  asking  Cornwallis  to  send  back  some  of  his 
troops.  And  while,  as  he  never  ceased  to  point 
out  afterward,  he  was  careful  to  add,  "if  you 
could  spare  them,"  he  also  remarked  in  the  same 
letter :  "I  confess  I  could  not  conceive  you  would 
require  above  4,000  in  a  station  where  General 
Arnold  has  represented  to  me,  upon  report  of 
Colonel  Simcoe,  that  2,000  men  would  be  amply 
sufficient."1 

1  July  8,  1781. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  73 

A  great  source  of  light,  and,  as  it  turned  out,  of 
darkness  also,  was  the  intercepting  of  letters. 
This  constantly  happened  in  those  days,  to  the 
benefit  or  bewilderment  of  both  parties,  on  land 
or  at  sea.  But  luck  had  decidedly  turned,  and 
the  stars  shone  propitious  for  the  allies.  We  cap- 
tured valuable  letters,  and  Clinton  misleading 
ones.  It  was  something  of  a  retribution  after  he 
had  so  often  used  or  tried  to  use  such  captures  to 
his  advantage,  as  when,  having  seized  an  intimate 
letter  of  Washington,  a  passage  of  which  might 
have  given  umbrage  to  Rochambeau,  he  had  it 
printed  in  the  newspapers.  But  the  two  com- 
manders were  not  to  be  ruffled  so  easily,  and  all 
that  took  place  was  a  frank  explanation.  Spon- 
taneously acting  in  the  same  spirit,  La  Luzerne 
had  written  to  Rochambeau  concerning  Wash- 
ington and  this  incident:  "I  have  told  all  those 
that  have  spoken  to  me  of  it  that  I  saw  nothing 
in  it  but  the  zeal  of  a  good  patriot,  and  a  citizen 
must  be  very  virtuous  for  his  enemies  not  to  find 
other  crimes  to  reproach  him  with."1 

More  treasures  had  now  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  Clinton:  a  letter  of  Chastellux  to  La  Luzerne, 
speaking  very  superciliously  of  his  unmanageable 
chief,  Rochambeau,  and  of  his  "bourrasques." 
In  it  he  congratulated  himself,  as  Rochambeau 
narrates,  on  having  "cleverly  managed  to  cause 

1  April  13,  1781.     (Rochambeau  papers.) 


74  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

me  to  agree  with  General  Washington,"  the  re- 
sult being  that  "a  siege  of  the  island  of  New  York 
had  at  last  been  determined  upon.  ...  He 
added  complaints  about  the  small  chance  a  man 
of  parts  had  to  influence  the  imperiousness  of  a 
general  always  wanting  to  command."  Clinton 
caused  that  letter  to  be  sent  to  Rochambeau,  "  ob- 
viously with  no  view,"  writes  the  latter,  "to  the 
preservation  of  peace  in  my  military  family." 
Rochambeau  showed  it  to  Chastellux,  who  blush- 
ingly  acknowledged  its  authorship;  the  general 
thereupon  threw  it  into  the  fire  and  left  the  un- 
fortunate Academician  "a  prey  to  his  remorse," 
— and  to  his  ignorance,  for  he  was  careful  not  to 
undeceive  him  as  to  the  real  plans  of  the  com- 
bined army. 

A  text  of  the  conclusions  reached  at  the  Weath- 
ersfield  conferences  was  no  less  happily  captured 
by  Clinton,  and  we  have  seen  how  clearly  Wash- 
ington had  there  expressed  his  reluctance  to  at- 
tempt striking  the  chief  blow  in  the  South. 
A  letter  of  B arras  to  La  Luzerne,  of  May  27, 
was  also  intercepted,  and  as  luck  would  have  it, 
the  sailor  declared  in  it  his  intention  to  take  the 
fleet,  of  all  places,  to  Boston  (a  real  project,  but 
abandoned  as  soon  as  formed  and  replaced  by 
another  which  took  him  to  the  Chesapeake).  A 
most  important  letter  of  Rochambeau  to  La 
Luzerne,  explaining  the  real  plan,  was  thereupon 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  75 

intercepted;  it  was  in  cipher  and  the  English 
managed  to  decipher  it.  But,  as  the  stars  shone 
propitious  to  the  allies,  it  was  only  the  English 
in  London,  and  not  those  in  New  York,  who  could 
do  it,  and  when  the  translation  reached  Clinton 
at  last,  he  had  no  longer,  for  good  causes,  any 
doubt  as  to  the  real  aims  of  Washington  and 
Rochambeau. 

The  colonial  secretary  was,  in  the  meantime, 
kept  in  a  state  of  jubilation  by  so  much  treasure- 
trove  and  the  news  forwarded  by  Clinton,  to 
whom  he  wrote:  "The  copies  of  the  very  impor- 
tant correspondence  which  so  fortunately  fell  into 
your  hands,  inclosed  in  your  despatch,  show  the 
rebel  affairs  to  be  almost  desperate,  and  that  noth- 
ing but  the  success  of  some  extraordinary  enter- 
prise can  give  vigor  and  activity  to  their  cause, 
and  I  confess  I  am  well  pleased  that  they  have 
fixed  upon  New  York  as  the  object  to  be  at- 
tempted. ' ' 1  Clinton  acknowledged  a  little  later  to 
Lord  Germain  the  receipt  of  a  "reinforcement  of 
about  2,400  German  troops  and  recruits,"  which 
he  was  careful  to  hold  tight  in  New  York  till  the 
end. 

The  combined  armies  had,  in  the  meantime, 
done  their  best  to  confirm  the  English  commander 
in  such  happy  dispositions.  They  had  built  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  York  brick  ovens  for  baking 

1  July  14,  1781. 


76  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

bread  for  an  army,  as  in  view  of  a  long  siege. 
There  had  been  reconnaissances,  marches,  and 
countermarches,  a  sending  of  ships  toward  Long 
Island  without  entering,  however,  "dans  la  baie 
d' Oyster,"  skirmishes  which  looked  like  prelimi- 
naries to  more  important  operations,  and  in  one 
of  which,  together  with  the  two  Berthiers  and 
Count  de  Vauban,  Closen  nearly  lost  his  life  in 
order  to  save  his  hat.  A  camp  proverb  about 
hats  had  been  the  cause  of  his  taking  the  risk. 
When  he  returned,  "kind  Washington,"  he  writes 
in  his  journal,  "tapped  me  on  the  shoulder,  say- 
ing: 'Dear  Baron,  this  French  proverb  is  not  yet 
known  among  our  army,  but  your  cold  behavior 
during  danger  will  be  it ' "  (in  English  in  the  orig- 
inal as  being  the  very  words  of  the  great  man  to 
the  young  one,  though  cold  does  probably  duty 
for  cool,  and  the  final  it  is  certainly  not  Washing- 
ton's). 

Then  on  the  sudden,  on  the  i8th  of  August, 
the  two  armies  raised  their  camps,  disappeared, 
and,  following  unusual  roads,  moving  northward 
at  first  for  three  marches,  reached  in  the  midst 
of  great  difficulties,  under  a  torrid  heat,  greatly 
encumbered  with  heavy  baggage,  the  Hudson 
River  and  crossed  it  at  King's  Ferry,  without 
being  more  interfered  with  than  before.  How 
can  such  an  inaction  on  the  part  of  Clinton  be  ex- 
plained ?  "It  is  for  me,"  writes  Count  Guillaume 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  77 

de  Deux-Ponts  in  his  journal,  the  manuscript  of 
which  was  found  on  the  quays  in  Paris,1  and  printed 
in  America,  "an  undecipherable  enigma,  and  I 
hope  I  shall  never  be  reproached  for  having  puz- 
zled people  with  any  similar  ones.'* 

The  river  once  crossed,  the  double  army  moved 
southward  by  forced  marches.  Rochambeau,  in 
order  to  hasten  the  move,  prescribed  the  leaving 
behind  of  a  quantity  of  effects,  and  this,  says 
Closen,  "caused  considerable  grumbling  among 
the  line,"  which  grumbled  but  marched.  The 
news,  to  be  sure,  of  so  important  a  movement 
came  to  Clinton,  but,  since  the  stars  had  ceased  to 
smile  on  him,  he  chose  to  conclude,  as  he  wrote 
to  Lord  Germain  on  the  yth  of  September,  "this 
to  be  a  feint."  When  he  discovered  that  it  was 
not  "a  feint,"  the  Franco- American  army  was 
beyond  reach.  "What  can  be  said  as  to  this?" 
Closen  writes  merrily.  "Try  to  see  better  another 
time,"  and  he  draws  a  pair  of  spectacles  on  the 
margin  of  his  journal. 

The  march  southward  thus  continued  unham- 
pered. They  crossed  first  the  Jerseys,  "a  land  of 
Cockayne,  for  game,  fish,  vegetables,  poultry." 
Closen  had  the  happiness  to  "hear  from  the  lips 
of  General  Washington,  and  on  the  ground  itself,  a 

1  In  June,  1867,  by  S.  A.  Green,  who  printed  it  with  an  English 
translation:  My  Campaigns  in  America,  a  journal  kept  by  Count 
William  de  Deux-Ponts,  Boston,  1868. 


78  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

description  of  the  dispositions  taken,  the  move- 
ments and  all  the  incidents  of  the  famous  battles 
of  Trenton  and  Princeton."  The  young  man,  who 
had  made  great  progress  in  English,  was  now  used 
by  the  two  generals  as  their  interpreter;  so  nothing 
escaped  him.  The  reception  at  Philadelphia  was 
triumphal;  Congress  was  most  courteous;  toasts 
were  innumerable.  The  city  is  an  immense  one, 
"with  seventy-two  streets  in  a  straight  line.  .  .  . 
Shops  abound  in  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  and 
some  of  them  do  not  yield  to  the  Petit  Dunkerque 
in  Paris."  Where  is  now  the  Petit  Dunkerque? 
—"Mais  ou  sont  les  Neiges  d'antan?"1  Women 
are  very  pretty,  "of  charming  manners,  and  very 
well  dressed,  even  in  French  fashion."  Benezet, 
the  French  Quaker,  one  of  the  celebrities  of  the 
city,  is  found  to  be  full  of  wisdom,  and  La  Luzerne, 
"who  keeps  a  state  worthy  of  his  sovereign," 
gives  a  dinner  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  guests. 
From  Philadelphia  to  Chester,  on  the  5th  of 
September,  Rochambeau  and  his  aides  took  a 
boat.  As  they  were  nearing  the  latter  city,  "we 
saw  in  the  distance,"  says  Closen,  "General  Wash- 
ington shaking  his  hat  and  a  white  handkerchief, 

1The  house  at  the  entrance  of  the  Pont-Neuf,  where  the  Petit 
Dunkerque  was  established,  being  then  the  most  famous  "magasin 
de  frivolitds"  in  existence,  survived  until  July,  1914.  The  sign  of  the 
shop,  a  little  ship  with  the  inscription,  "Au  Petit  Dunkerque,"  was 
still  there.  It  has  been  preserved  and  is  now  in  the  Carnavalet 
Museum. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  79 

and  showing  signs  of  great  joy."  Rochambeau 
had  scarcely  landed  when  Washington,  usually 
so  cool  and  composed,  fell  into  his  arms;  the 
great  news  had  arrived;  de  Grasse  had  come,  and 
while  Cornwallis  was  on  the  defensive  at  York- 
town  the  French  fleet  was  barring  the  Chesa- 
peake.1 

On  the  receipt  of  letters  from  Washington,  Ro- 
chambeau, and  La  Luzerne  telling  him  to  what 
extent  the  fate  of  the  United  States  was  in  his 
hands,  the  sailor,  having  "learned,  with  much 
sorrow,"  he  wrote  to  the  latter,  "what  was  the 
distress  of  the  continent,  and  the  need  there  was 
of  immediate  help,"  had  decided  that  he  would 
leave  nothing  undone  to  usefully  take  part  in  the 
supreme  effort  which,  without  his  help,  might  be 
attempted  in  vain.  Having  left,  on  the  5th  of 
August,  Cap  Frangais  (to-day  Cap  Ha'itien),  he 
had  added  to  his  fleet  all  the  available  ships  he 
could  find  in  our  isles,  including  some  which,  hav- 
ing been  years  away,  had  received  orders  to  go 
back  to  France  for  repairs.  He  had  had  great  diffi- 

1  Washington's  joy  was  in  proportion  to  the  acuteness  of  his 
anxieties;  only  three  days  before  he  was  writing  to  Lafayette: 
"But,  my  dear  marquis,  I  am  distressed  beyond  expression  to  know 
what  has  become  of  Count  de  Grasse,  and  for  fear  that  the  English 
fleet,  by  occupying  the  Chesapeake,  toward  which,  my  last  accounts 
say,  they  were  steering,  may  frustrate  all  our  prospects  in  that  quar- 
ter. .  .  .  Adieu,  my  dear  marquis;  if  you  get  anything  new  from 
any  quarter,  send  it,  I  pray  you,  on  the  spur  of  speed,  for  I  am  almost 
all  impatience  and  anxiety."  Philadelphia,  September  2,  1781. 


80  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

culty  in  obtaining  the  money  asked  for,  although 
he  had  offered  to  mortgage  for  it  his  castle  of 
Tilly,  and  the  Chevalier  de  Charitte,  in  command 
.of  the  Bourgogne,  had  made  a  like  offer.  But  at 
last,  thanks  to  the  Spanish  governor  at  Havana, 
he  had  secured  the  desired  amount  of  twelve  hun- 
dred thousand  francs.  He  was  bringing,  more- 
over, the  Marquis  de  Saint-Simon,  with  the  3,000 
regular  troops  under  his  command.  De  Grasse's 
only  request  was  that  operations  be  pushed  on 
with  the  utmost  rapidity,  as  he  was  bound  to  be 
back  at  the  Isles  at  a  fixed  date.  It  can  truly  be 
said  that  no  single  man  risked  nor  did  more  for 
the  United  States  than  de  Grasse,  the  single  one 
of  the  leaders  to  whom  no  memorial  has  been 
dedicated. 

The  news  spread  like  wild-fire;  the  camp  was 
merry  with  songs  and  shouts;  in  Philadelphia  the 
joy  was  indescribable;  crowds  pressed  before  the 
house  of  La  Luzerne,  cheering  him  and  his  coun- 
try, while  in  the  streets  impromptu  orators,  stand- 
ing on  chairs,  delivered  mock  funeral  orations  on 
the  Earl  of  Cornwallis.  "You  have,"  Rocham- 
beau  wrote  to  the  admiral,  "spread  universal  joy 
throughout  America,  with  which  she  is  wild."1 

Anxiety  was  renewed,  however,  when  it  was 
learned  shortly  after  that  the  French  men-of-war 
had  left  the  Chesapeake,  the  entrance  to  which 

1  September  7,  1781. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  81 

now  remained  free.  The  English  fleet,  of  twenty 
ships  and  seven  frigates,  under  Hood  and  Graves, 
the  same  Graves  who  had  failed  to  intercept  Ro- 
chambeau's  convoy,  had  been  signalled  on  the 
5th  of  September,  and  de  Grasse,  leaving  behind 
him,  in  order  to  go  faster,  some  of  his  ships  and  a 
number  of  sailors  who  were  busy  on  land,  had 
weighed  anchor,  three-quarters  of  an  hour  after 
sighting  the  signals,  to  risk  the  fight  upon  which 
the  issue  of  the  campaign  and,  as  it  turned  out, 
of  the  war,  was  to  depend.  "This  behavior  of 
Count  de  Grasse,"  wrote  the  famous  Tarleton, 
is  "worthy  of  admiration."  Six  days  later  the 
French  admiral  was  back;  he  had  had  21  officers 
and  200  sailors  killed  or  wounded,  but  he  had 
lost  no  ship,  and  the  enemy's  fleet,  very  much 
damaged,  with  336  men  killed  or  disabled,  and 
having  lost  the  Terrible,  of  74  guns,  and  the 
frigates  Iris  and  Richmond  of  40, 1  had  been 
compelled  to  retreat  to  New  York.  Admiral 
Robert  Digby  thereupon  arrived  with  naval  re- 

1  Graves  had  rightly  supposed  that,  to  have  been  able  to  start  so 
quickly,  de  Grasse  must  have  caused  some  of  his  ships  to  cut  their 
anchors'  cables,  marking  the  spot  with  buoys.  The  two  frigates 
had  been  sent  to  gather  those  buoys,  and  were  bringing  several  as  a 
prize  to  the  English  admiral,  when  they  were  captured.  (Journal  Par- 
tictdier,  by  Count  de  Revel,  sublieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  "Mon- 
sieur-Infanterie,"  p.  131.)  On  the  i5th  of  September  Washington 
wrote  to  de  Grasse:  "I  am  at  a  loss  to  express  the  pleasure  which 
I  have  in  congratulating  your  Excellency  ...  on  the  glory  of  hav- 
ing driven  the  British  fleet  from  the  coast  and  taking  two  of  their 
frigates." 


82  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

inf orcements ;  "yet  I  do  not  think,"  La  Luzerne 
wrote  to  Rochambeau,  "that  battle  will  be  offered 
again.  If  it  is,  I  am  not  anxious  about  the  re- 
sult." Nothing  was  attempted.  This  "superi- 
ority at  sea,"  Tarleton  wrote  in  his  History  of  the 
Campaigns,  "proved  the  strength  of  the  enemies 
of  Great  Britain,  deranged  the  plans  of  her  gen- 
erals, disheartened  the  courage  of  her  friends,  and 
finally  confirmed  the  independency  of  America."1 
"Nothing,"  Rochambeau  had  written  in  his  note- 
book at  starting,  "without  naval  supremacy." 

On  re-entering  the  bay  de  Grasse  had  the  plea- 
sure to  find  there  another  French  fleet,  that  of  his 
friend  B arras.  As  a  lieutenant-general  de  Grasse 
outranked  him,  but  as  a  "chef  d'escadre"  Barras 
was  his  senior  officer,  which  might  have  caused 
difficulties;  the  latter  could  be  tempted,  and  he 
was,  to  conduct  a  campaign  apart,  so  as  to  per- 
sonally reap  the  glory  of  possible  successes.  "I 
leave  it  to  thee,  my  dear  Barras,"  de  Grasse  had 
written  him  on  the  28th  of  July,  "to  come  and 
join  me  or  to  act  on  thy  own  account  for  the  good 
of  the  common  cause.  Do  only  let  me  know,  so 
that  we  do  not  hamper  each  other  unawares." 
Barras  preferred  the  service  of  the  cause  to  his 
own  interest;  leaving  Newport,  going  far  out  on 

1  History  of  the  Campaigns  of  1780  and  1787,  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Tarleton,  commandant  of  the  late  British  Legion,  Dublin,  1787, 
pp.  403  ff. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  83 

the  high  seas,  then  dashing  south  at  a  great  dis- 
tance from  the  coast,  he  escaped  the  English  and 
reached  the  Chesapeake,  bringing  the  heavy  siege 
artillery  now  indispensable  for  the  last  operations. 
The  stars  had  continued  incredibly  propitious. 

The  well-known  double  siege  now  began,  that 
of  Yorktown1  by  Washington  and  Rochambeau, 
and  that  of  Gloucester,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  which  might  have  afforded  a  place  of 
retreat  to  Cornwallis.  De  Grasse  had  consented 
to  land,  in  view  of  the  latter,  800  men  under  Choisy, 
whom  Lauzun  joined  with  his  legion,  and  both 
acted  in  conjunction  with  the  American  militia 
under  Weedon.2  The  two  chiefs  on  the  Yorktown 
side  were  careful  to  conduct  the  operations  ac- 
cording to  rules,  "on  account,"  says  Closen,  "of 
the  reputation  of  Cornwallis,  and  the  strength  of 
the  garrison."  Such  rules  were  certainly  familiar 
to  Rochambeau,  whose  fifteenth  siege  this  one  was. 

From  day  to  day  Cornwallis  was  more  narrowly 
pressed.  As  late  as  the  2pth  of  September  he 
was  still  full  of  hope.  "I  have  ventured  these 

1 A  minute  "Journal  of  the  Siege"  was  kept  by  Mr.  de  Menonville, 
aide  major-general,  a  translation  of  which  is  in  the  Magazine  of 
American  History,  1881,  VII,  283. 

2  The  city  of  Gloucester  consisted  of  "four  houses  on  a  promontory 
facing  York,"  but  very  well  defended  by  trenches,  ditches,  redoubts, 
manned  by  a  garrison  of  1,200  men.  (Count  de  Revel,  Journal 
Particulier,  p.  171.)  A  detailed  account  of  the  Gloucester  siege  is 
in  this  journal.  Choisy  "had  previously  won  a  kind  of  fame  by  his 
defense  of  the  citadel  of  Cracow,  in  Poland."  (Ibid.,  p.  139.) 


84  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

two  days,"  he  wrote  to  Clinton,  "to  look  General 
Washington's  whole  force  in  the  face  in  the  posi- 
tion on  the  outside  of  my  works;  and  I  have  the 
pleasure  to  assure  your  Excellency  that  there  was 
but  one  wish  throughout  the  whole  army,  which 
was  that  the  enemy  would  advance."  A  dozen 
days  later  the  tone  was  very  different.  "I  have 
only  to  repeat  that  nothing  but  a  direct  move  to 
York  River,  which  includes  a  successful  naval 
action,  can  save  me  .  .  .  many  of  our  works  are 
considerably  damaged." 

Lord  Germain  was,  in  the  meantime,  writing  to 
Clinton  in  his  happiest  mood,  on  the  i2th  of 
October:  "It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  find 
.  .  .  that  the  plan  you  had  concerted  for  conduct- 
ing the  military  operations  in  that  quarter  (the 
Chesapeake)  corresponds  with  what  I  had  sug- 
gested." The  court,  which  had  no  more  misgiv- 
ings than  Lord  Germain  himself,  had  caused  to 
sail  with  Digby  no  less  a  personage  than  Prince 
William,  one  of  the  fifteen  children  of  George  III, 
and  eventually  one  of  his  successors  as  William  IV; 
but  his  presence  could  only  prove  one  more  en- 
cumbrance. 

After  the  familiar  incidents  of  the  siege  in  which 
the  American  and  French  armies  displayed  similar 
valor  and  met  with  about  the  same  losses,  the  de- 
cisive move  of  the  night  attack  on  the  enemy's 
advanced  redoubts  had  to  be  made,  one  of  the 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  85 

redoubts  to  be  stormed  by  the  Americans  with 
Lafayette,  and  the  other  by  the  French  under 
Viomesnil.  Rochambeau  addressed  himself  es- 
pecially to  the  grenadiers  of  the  regiment  of 
Gatinais,  which  had  been  formed  with  a  portion 
of  his  old  regiment  of  Auvergne,  and  said:  "My 
boys,  if  I  need  you  to-night,  I  hope  you  will  not 
have  forgotten  that  we  have  served  together  in 
that  brave  regiment  of  Auvergne  sans  tache  (spot- 
less Auvergne),  an  honorable  surname  deserved 
by  it  since  its  formation."  They  answered  that 
if  he  would  promise  to  have  their  former  name 
restored  to  them  he  would  find  they  were  ready 
to  die  to  the  last.  They  kept  their  word,  losing 
many  of  their  number,  and  one  of  the  first  requests 
of  Rochambeau  when  he  reached  Paris  was  that 
their  old  name  be  given  back  to  them,  which  was 
done.  Gatinais  thus  became  Royal  Auvergne, 
and  is  now  the  i8th  Infantry. 

On  the  ipth  of  October,  after  a  loss  of  less  than 
300  men  in  each  of  the  besieging  armies,  an  act 
was  signed  as  great  in  its  consequences  as  any 
that  ever  followed  the  bloodiest  battles,  the  capit- 
ulation of  Yorktown.  It  was  in  a  way  the  rati- 
fication of  that  other  act  which  had  been  pro- 
posed for  signature  five  years  before  at  Phila- 
delphia by  men  whose  fate  had  more  than  once, 
in  the  interval,  seemed  desperate,  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 


86  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

On  the  same  day  Closen  writes:  "The  York 
garrison  marched  past  at  two  o'clock,  before  the 
combined  army,  which  was  formed  in  two  lines, 
the  French  facing  the  Americans  and  in  full  dress 
uniform.  .  .  .  Passing  between  the  two  armies, 
the  English  showed  much  disdain  for  the  Ameri- 
cans, who  so  far  as  dress  and  appearances  went  rep- 
resented the  seamy  side,  many  of  those  poor  boys 
being  garbed  in  linen  habits-vestes,  torn,  soiled,  a 
number  among  them  almost  shoeless.  The  Eng- 
lish had  given  them  the  nickname  of  Yanckey- 
Dudle.  What  does  it  matter?  the  man  of  sense 
will  think ;  they  are  the  more  to  be  praised  and 
show  the  greater  valor,  fighting,  as  they  do,  so 
badly  equipped."  As  a  "man  of  sense,"  Rocham- 
beau  writes  in  his  memoirs:  "This  justice  must 
be  rendered  to  the  Americans  that  they  behaved 
with  a  zeal,  a  courage,  an  emulation  which  left 
them  in  no  case  behind,  in  all  that  part  of  the  siege 
intrusted  to  them,  in  spite  of  their  being  unaccus- 
tomed to  sieges." 

The  city  offered  a  pitiful  sight.  "I  shall  never 
forget,"  says  Closen,  "how  horrible  and  painful 
to  behold  was  the  aspect  of  the  town  of  York. 
.  .  .  One  could  not  walk  three  steps  without 
finding  big  holes  made  by  bombs,  cannon-balls, 
splinters,  barely  covered  graves,  arms  and  legs 
of  blacks  and  whites  scattered  here  and  there, 
most  of  the  houses  riddled  with  shot  and  devoid 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  87 

of  window  panes.  .  .  .  We  found  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  in  his  house.  His  attitude  evinced  the  no- 
bility of  his  soul,  his  magnanimity  and  firmness  of 
character.  He  seemed  to  say:  I  have  nothing  to 
reproach  myself  with,  I  have  done  my  duty  and 
defended  myself  to  the  utmost."  This  impression 
of  Lord  Cornwallis  was  general. 

As  to  Closen's  description  of  the  town,  now  so 
quiet  and  almost  asleep,  by  the  blue  water,  amid 
her  sand-dunes,  once  more  torn  and  blood-stained 
during  the  Civil  War,  resting  at  the  foot  of  the 
great  marble  memorial  raised  a  hundred  years 
later  by  Congress,1  it  is  confirmed  by  Abbe  Robin, 
who  notices,  too,  "the  quantity  of  human  limbs 
which  infected  the  air,"  but  also,  being  an  abbe, 
the  number  of  books  scattered  among  the  ruins, 
many  being  works  of  piety  and  theological  con- 
troversy, and  with  them  "the  works  of  the  famous 
Pope,  and  translations  of  Montaigne's  Essays,  of 

1  As  early  as  1796,  when  La  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt  visited  it, 
the  city,  formerly  a  prosperous  one,  had  become  a  borough  of  800 
inhabitants,  two-thirds  of  which  were  colored.  "The  inhabitants," 
says  the  traveller,  "are  without  occupation.  Some  retail  spirits  or 
cloth;  some  are  called  lawyers,  some  justices  of  the  peace.  Most 
of  them  have,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  town,  a  small  farm,  which 
they  go  and  visit  every  morning,  but  that  scarcely  fills  the  mind  or 
time;  and  the  inhabitants  of  York,  who  live  on  very  good  terms 
with  each  other,  occupy  both  better  in  dining  together,  drinking 
punch,  playing  billiards;  to  introduce  more  variety  in  this  mo- 
notonous kind  of  life,  they  often  change  the  place  where  they  meet. 
.  .  .  The  name  of  Marshal  de  Rochambeau  is  still  held  there  in 
great  veneration."  Voyage  dans  les  Etats-Unis,  Paris,  "An  VII," 
vol.  VI,  p.  283. 


88  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Gil  Bias,  and  of  the  Essay  on  Women  by  Monsieur 
Thomas,"  that  stern  essay,  so  popular  then  in 
America,  in  which  society  ladies  were  invited  to 
fill  their  soul  with  those  "sentiments  of  nature 
which  are  born  in  retreat  and  grow  in  silence." 

Nothing  better  puts  in  its  true  light  the  domi- 
nant characteristic  of  the  French  sentiment 
throughout  the  war  than  what  happened  on  this 
solemn  occasion,  and  more  shows  how,  with  their 
new-born  enthusiasm  for  philanthropy  and  liberty, 
the  French  were  pro- Americans  much  more  than 
anti-English.  No  trace  of  a  triumphant  attitude 
toward  a  vanquished  enemy  appeared  in  anything 
they  did  or  said.  Even  in  the  surrendering,  the 
fact  remained  apparent  that  this  was  not  a  war 
of  hatred.  "The  English,"  writes  Abbe  Robin, 
"laid  down  their  arms  at  the  place  selected. 
Care  was  taken  not  to  admit  sightseers,  so  as  to 
diminish  their  humiliation."  Henry  Lee  (Light- 
horse  Harry),  who  was  present,  describes  in  the 
same  spirit  the  march  past:  "Universal  silence 
was  observed  amidst  the  vast  concourse,  and  the 
utmost  decency  prevailed,  exhibiting  in  demeanor 
an  awful  sense  of  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life, 
mingled  with  commiseration  for  the  unhappy."1 

1  Memoirs  of  the  War  in  the  Southern  Department  of  the  United  States, 
Philadelphia,  1812,  II,  343.  In  the  same  spirit  Pontgibaud  notes 
that  the  British  army  laid  down  its  arms  "to  the  noble  confusion 
of  its  brave  and  unfortunate  soldiers."  Mtmoires  du  Comte  de  More 
(Pontgibaud),  1898,  p.  104. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  89 

The  victors  pitied  Cornwallis  and  showed  him 
every  consideration;  Rochambeau,  learning  that 
he  was  without  money,  lent  him  all  he  wanted. 
He  invited  him  to  dine  with  him  and  his  officers 
on  the  2d  of  November.  "Lord  Cornwallis," 
writes  Closen,  "especially  distinguished  himself 
by  his  reflective  turn  of  mind,  his  noble  and 
gentle  manners.  He  spoke  freely  of  his  cam- 
paigns in  the  Carolinas,  and,  though  he  had  won 
several  victories,  he  acknowledged,  nevertheless, 
that  they  were  the  cause  of  the  present  misfor- 
tunes. All,  with  the  exception  of  Tarleton,  spoke 
French,  O'Hara  in  particular  to  perfection,  but 
he  seemed  to  us  something  of  a  brag. " 1  A  friendly 
correspondence  began  between  the  English  gen- 
eral and  some  of  the  French  officers,  Viscount  de 
Noailles,  the  one  who  had  walked  all  the  way, 
lending  him,  the  week  after  the  capitulation,  his 
copy  of  the  beforementioned  famous  work  of 
Count  de  Guibert  on  Tactics,  which  was  at  that 
time  the  talk  of  Europe,  and  of  which  Napoleon 

1  Same  good  feeling  on  the  Gloucester  side.  After  the  surrender, "  les 
officiers  anglais  vinrent  voir  nos  officiers  qui  etaient  de  service,  leur 
firent  toutes  les  honnetetes  possible,  et  burent  a  leur  sante."  (Revel, 
Journal  Particulier,  p.  168.)  The  British  fleet  appeared  only  on  the 
27th  of  October,  at  the  entrance  of  the  capes;  thirty-one  sails  were 
counted  on  that  day  and  forty-four  on  the  next;  after  the  2gth  they 
were  no  longer  seen.  "Nous  avons  su  depuis,"  Revel  writes,  "que 
1'Amiral  Graves  avait  dans  son  armee  le  general  Clinton,  avec  des 
troupes  venues  de  New  York  pour  secourir  lord  Cornwallis.  Mais 
il  etait  trop  tard;  la  poule  £tait  mangee,  et  1'un  et  1'autre  prirent  le 
parti  de  s'en  retourner."  (Ibid.,  p.  178.) 


90  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

said  later  that  "it  was  such  as  to  form  great  men," 
the  same  Guibert  who  expected  lasting  repute 
from  that  work  and  from  his  military  services, 
and  who — irony  of  fate — general  and  Academician 
though  he  was,  is  chiefly  remembered  as  the  hero 
of  the  letters  of  Mademoiselle  de  Lespinasse. 

Cornwallis  realized  quite  well  that  the  French 
had  fought  for  a  cause  dear  to  their  hearts  more 
than  from  any  desire  to  humble  him  or  his  nation. 
He  publicly  rendered  full  justice  to  the  enemy, 
acknowledging  that  the  fairest  treatment  had 
been  awarded  him  by  them.  In  the  final  report 
in  which  he  gives  his  own  account  of  the  catas- 
trophe, and  which  he  caused  to  be  printed  when 
he  reached  England,  he  said:  "The  kindness  and 
attention  that  has  been  shown  us  by  the  French 
officers  .  .  .  their  delicate  sensibility  of  our  situa- 
tion, their  generous  and  pressing  offers  of  money, 
both  public  and  private,  to  any  amount,  has  really 
gone  beyond  what  I  can  possibly  describe  and 
will,  I  hope,  make  an  impression  on  the  breast  of 
every  British  officer  whenever  the  fortunes  of  war 
should  put  any  of  them  in  our  power." 

The  French  attitude  in  the  New  World  was  in 
perfect  accord  with  the  French  sentiments  in  the 
Old.  On  receiving  from  Lauzun  and  Count  de 
Deux-Ponts,  who  for  fear  of  capture  had  sailed 
in  two  different  frigates,  the  news  of  the  taking 
of  Cornwallis,  of  his  8,000  men  (of  whom  2,000 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  91 

were  in  hospitals),  800  sailors,  214  guns,  and  22 
flags,  the  King  wrote  to  Rochambeau :  ' '  Monsieur 
le  Comte  de  Rochambeau,  the  success  of  my  arms 
flatters  me  only  as  being  conducive  to  peace." 
And,  thanking  the  "Author  of  all  prosperity,"  he 
announced  the  sending  of  letters  to  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  of  his  kingdom  for  a  Te  Deum 
to  be  sung  in  all  the  churches  of  their  dioceses. 

It  was  a  long  time  since  the  old  cocks  of  the 
French  churches  had  quivered  at  the  points  of  the 
steeples  to  the  chant  of  a  Te  Deum  for  a  victory 
leading  to  a  glorious  peace.  The  victory  was 
over  those  enemies  who,  not  so  very  long  before, 
had  bereft  us  of  Canada.  Nothing  more  signifi- 
cant than  the  pastoral  letter  of  "Louis  Apolli- 
naire  de  la  Tour  du  Pin  Montauban,  by  the  grace 
of  God  first  Bishop  of  Nancy,  Primate  of  Lor- 
raine," appointing  the  date  for  the  thanksgiving 
ceremonies,  and  adding:  "This  so  important  ad- 
vantage has  been  the  result  of  the  wisest  measures. 
Reason  and  humanity  have  gauged  it  and  have 
placed  it  far  above  those  memorable  but  bloody 
victories  whose  lustre  has  been  tarnished  by  al- 
most universal  mourning.  Here  the  blood  of  our 
allies  and  of  our  generous  compatriots  has  been 
spared,  and  why  should  we  not  note  with  satis- 
faction that  the  forces  of  our  enemies  have  been 
considerably  weakened,  their  efforts  baffled,  the 
fruits  of  their  immense  expense  lost,  without  our 


92  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

having  caused  rivers  of  their  blood  to  be  spilt, 
without  our  having  filled  their  country  with  un- 
fortunate widows  and  mothers?"  For  this,  too, 
as  well  as  for  the  victory,  thanks  must  be  offered ; 
and  for  this,  too,  for  such  a  rare  and  such  a  hu- 
mane feeling,  the  name  of  Bishop  de  la  Tour  du 
Pin  Montauban  deserves  to  be  remembered. 

The  nation  at  large  felt  like  the  bishop.  One 
of  the  most  typical  of  the  publications  inspired 
in  France  by  the  war  and  its  outcome  was  the 
Fragment  of  Xenophon,  newly  found  in  the  ruins 
of  Palmyra  .  .  .  translated  from  the  Greek,  anony- 
mously printed,  in  1783, J  in  which  under  the  names 
of  Greeks  and  Carthaginians,  the  story  of  the 
campaign  is  told;  the  chief  actors  being  easily 
recognized,  most  of  them,  under  anagrams :  Tusin- 
gonas  is  Washington;  Cherambos,  Rochambeau; 
the  illustrious  Filaatete,  Lafayette;  Tangides, 
d'Estaing,  and  the  wise  Thales  of  Milet,  Franklin. 

Critical  minds,  the  author  observes,  will  per- 
haps think  they  discover  anachronisms,  but  such 
mean  nothing;  he  will  soon  give  an  edition  of 
the  Greek  original,  splendidly  printed,  "so  the 
wealthy  amateurs  will  buy  it,  without  being  able 
to  read  it;  the  learned,  who  could  read  it,  will  be 
unable  to  buy  it,  and  everybody  will  be  pleased." 

1The  work  of  Gabriel  Brizard,  a  popular  writer  in  his  day:  Frag- 
ment de  Xenophon,  nouvellement  trouve  dans  les  mines  de  Palmyre  par 
un  Anglois  et  depose  au  Museum  Britannicum — Tr adult  du  Grec  par 
un  Francois,  Paris,  1783. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  93 

The  author  gives  a  detailed  description  of  the 
Greeks  and  of  the  Carthaginians,  that  is,  the 
French  and  their  former  enemies,  the  English: 
''Greece,  owing  to  her  intellectual  and  artistic 
predominance,  seemed  to  lead  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  Athens  led  Greece.  The  Athenians 
were,  truth  to  say,  accused  of  inconstancy;  they 
were  reproached  for  the  mobility  of  their  character, 
their  fondness  for  new  things,  their  leaning  toward 
raillery;  but  there  was  something  pleasing  in 
their  defects.  Justice  was,  moreover,  rendered  to 
their  rare  qualities:  gentle  as  they  were  and  soft- 
ened by  their  fondness  for  enjoyment,  they  none- 
theless were  attracted  by  danger  and  prodigal  of 
their  blood.  They  felt  as  much  passion  for  glory 
as  for  pleasure ;  arbiters  in  matters  of  taste,  -they 
played  the  same  role  in  questions  of  honor,  an 
idol  with  them ;  somewhat  light-minded,  they  were 
withal  frank  and  generous.  .  .  .  This  brilliant 
and  famous  nation  was  such  that  those  among  her 
enemies  that  cast  most  reproaches  at  her  envied 
the  fate  of  the  citizens  living  within  her  borders." 

Whether  succeeding  events  have  cured  or  not 
some  of  that  light-mindedness,  any  one  can  see 
to-day  and  form  his  judgment. 

As  to  Carthaginians  (the  English),  no  ani- 
mosity, no  hatred,  but,  on  the  contrary,  greater 
praise  than  was  accorded  to  his  own  com- 
patriots by  many  an  English  writer:  "It  must 


94  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

be  acknowledged  that  they  never  made  a  finer 
defense.  .  .  .  They  faced  everywhere  all  their 
enemies,  and,  disastrous  as  the  result  may  have 
proved  for  them,  this  part  of  their  annals  will 
remain  one  of  the  most  glorious.  Why  should 
we  hesitate  to  render  them  justice  ?  Yes,  if  the 
intrepid  defender  of  the  columns  of  Hercules1  were 
present  in  person  at  our  celebration,  he  would 
receive  the  tribute  of  praise  and  applause  that 
Greeks  know  how  to  pay  to  any  brave  and  gen- 
erous enemy." 

This  way  of  thinking  had  nothing  exceptional. 
One  of  the  most  authoritative  publicists  of  the 
day,  Lacretelle,  in  1785,  considering,  in  the  Mer- 
cure  de  France,  the  future  of  the  new-born  United 
States,  praised  the  favorable  influence  exercised 
on  them  by  the  so  much  admired  British  Constitu- 
tion— "the  most  wonderful  government  in  Europe. 
For  it  will  be  England's  glory  to  have  created 
peoples  worthy  of  throwing  off  her  yoke,  even 
though  she  must  endure  the  reproach  of  having 
forced  them  to  independence  by  forgetfulness  of 
her  own  maxims." 

As  to  the  members  of  the  French  army  who 
had  started  for  the  new  crusade  two  years  before, 
they  had  at  once  the  conviction  that,  in  accor- 

1  General  Eliott,  later  Lord  Heathfield,  defender  of  Gibraltar,  well 
known  in  France  not  only  as  an  enemy,  but  as  a  former  pupil  of  the 
military  school  at  La  Fere. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  95 

dance  with  their  anticipation,  they  had  witnessed 
something  great  which  would  leave  a  profound 
trace  in  the  history  of  the  world.  They  brought 
home  the  seed  of  liberty  and  equality,  the  "virus,'* 
as  it  was  called  by  Pontgibaud,  who,  friend  as 
he  was  of  Lafayette,  resisted  the  current  to 
the  last  and  remained  a  royalist.  "The  young 
French  nobility,"  says  Talleyrand  in  his  memoirs, 
"having  enlisted  for  the  cause  of  independence, 
clung  ever  after  to  the  principle  which  it  had 
gone  to  defend."1  Youthful  Saint-Simon,  the 
future  Saint-Simonian,  thus  summed  up  his  im- 
pressions of  the  campaign:  "I  felt  that  the 
American  Revolution  marked  the  beginning  of  a 


1  Mathieu-Dumas  availed  himself  of  his  stay  in  Boston  before 
sailing  to  go  and  visit,  with  some  of  his  brother  officers,  several  of 
the  heroes  of  independence — Hancock,  John  Adams,  Doctor  Cooper: 
"We  listened  with  avidity  to  the  latter,  who,  while  applauding  our 
enthusiasm  for  liberty,  said  to  us:  'Take  care,  take  care,  young  men, 
that  the  triumph  of  the  cause  on  this  virgin  soil  does  not  influence 
overmuch  your  hopes;  you  will  carry  away  with  you  the  germ  of 
these  generous  sentiments,  but  if  you  attempt  to  fecund  them  on 
your  native  soil,  after  so  many  centuries  of  corruption,  you  will 
have  to  surmount  many  more  obstacles;  it  cost  us  much  blood  to 
conquer  liberty;  but  you  will  shed  torrents  before  you  establish  it 
in  your  old  Europe.'  How  often  since,  during  our  political  turmoils, 
in  the  course  of  our  bad  days,  did  I  not  recall  to  mind  the  prophetic 
leave-taking  of  Doctor  Cooper.  But  the  inestimable  prize  which 
the  Americans  secured  in  exchange  for  their  sacrifices  was  never  absent 
from  my  thought."  (Souvenirs  du  Lieutenant-General  Comte  Mathieu- 
Dumas,  publics  par  son  fils,  I,  108.)  The  writer  notices  the  early 
formation  of  a  "national  character,  in  spite  of  the  similitude  of  lan- 
guage, customs,  manners,  religion,  principles  of  government  with  the 
English."  (Ibid.,  113.) 


96  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

new  political  era;  that  this  revolution  would 
necessarily  set  moving  an  important  progress  in 
general  civilization,  and  that  it  would,  before 
long,  occasion  great  changes  in  the  social  order 
then  existing  in  Europe."1  Many  experienced 
the  feeling  described  in  the  last  lines  of  his  jour- 
nal by  Count  Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts,  wounded 
at  the  storming  of  the  redoubts:  "With  troops  as 
good  and  brave  and  well-disciplined  as  those 
which  I  have  had  the  honor  to  lead  against  the 
enemy,  one  can  undertake  anything.  ...  I  owe 
them  the  greatest  day  in  my  life,  the  souvenir  of 
which  will  never  die  out.  .  .  .  Man's  life  is 
mixed  with  trials,  but  one  can  no  longer  com- 
plain when  having  enjoyed  the  delightful  moments 
which  are  their  counterpart;  a  single  instant 
effaces  such  troubles,  and  that  instant,  well  re- 
sented, causes  one  to  desire  new  trials  so  as  to 
once  more  enjoy  their  recompense." 

l(Euvres,  1865,  I,  12. 


VIII 

For  one  year  more  Rochambeau  remained  in 
America.  Peace  was  a  possibility,  not  a  certainty. 
In  London,  where  so  late  as  November  20,  the 
most  encouraging  news  continued  to  be  received, 
but  where  that  of  the  catastrophe,  brought  by 
the  Rattlesnake,  arrived  on  the  25th,  George  III 
and  his  ministers  refused  to  yield  to  evidence,  Lord 
Germain  especially,  for  whom  the  shock  had  been 
great,  and  who  was  beseeching  Parliament  "to 
proceed  with  vigor  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
and  not  leave  it  in  the  power  of  the  French  to 
tell  the  Americans  that  they  had  procured  their 
independence,  and  were  consequently  entitled  to 
a  preference,  if  not  an  exclusive  right,  in  their 
trade."  This  was  not  to  know  us  well ;  our  treaty 
of  commerce  had  been  signed  three  years  before, 
at  a  time  when  anything  would  have  been  granted 
to  propitiate  France,  but  there  was  not  in  it,  as 
we  saw,  one  single  advantage  that  was  not  equally 
accessible  to  any  one  who  chose,  the  English 
included. 

As  for  King  George,  he  decided  that  the  8th  of 
February,  1782,  would  be  a  day  of  national  fast- 
ing, to  ask  pardon  for  past  sins,  and  implore 

97 


98  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Heaven's  assistance  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
war.  Franklin  was  still  beseeching  his  com- 
patriots to  be  on  their  guard:  "It  seems  the  [Eng- 
lish] nation  is  sick  of  [the  war]  .  .  .  but  the  King 
is  obstinate.  .  .  .  The  ministry,  you  will  see, 
declare  that  the  war  in  America  is  for  the  future 
to  be  only  defensive.  I  hope  we  shall  be  too  pru- 
dent to  have  the  least  dependence  on  this  declara- 
tion. It  is  only  thrown  out  to  lull  us;  for,  de- 
pend upon  it,  the  King  hates  us  cordially,  and  will 
be  content  with  nothing  short  of  our  extirpation." 1 

With  his  French  admiratrices  the  sage  ex- 
changed merry,  picturesque  letters.  Madame 
Brillon  writes,  in  French,  from  Nice  on  the  nth 
of  December,  1781:  "My  dear  Papa,  I  am  sulky 
with  you  .  .  .  yes,  Mr.  Papa,  I  am  sulky.  What ! 
You  capture  whole  armies  in  America,  you  burgoy- 
nize  Cornwallis,  you  capture  guns,  ships,  ammu- 
nition, men,  horses,  etc.,  etc.,  you  capture  every- 
thing and  of  everything,  and  only  the  gazette 
informs  your  friends,  who  go  off  their  heads 
drinking  your  health,  that  of  Washington,  of  in- 
dependence, of  the  King  of  France,  of  the  Mar- 
quis de  Lafayette,  of  Mr.  de  Rochambeau,  Mr. 
de  Chastellux,  etc.,  and  you  give  them  no  sign  of 
life!  .  .  ." 

With  his  valiant  pen,  which  feared  nothing,  not 
even  French  grammar,  Franklin  answered : ' '  Passy, 
xTo  Robert  Livingston,  Passy,  March  4,  1782. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  99 

25  Decembre  1781. — Vous  me  boudes,  ma  chere 
amie,  que  je  n'avois  pas  vous  envoye  tout  de  suite 
1'histoire  de  notre  grande  victoire.  Je  suis  bien 
sensible  de  la  magnitude  de  notre  avantage  et  de 
ses  possibles  bonnes  consequences,  mais  je  ne 
triomphe  pas.  Scachant  que  la  guerre  est  pleine 
de  varietes  et  d'incertitudes,  dans  la  mauvaise 
fortune  j'espere  la  bonne,  et  dans  la  bonne  je 
crains  la  mauvaise." 

The  future  continued  doubtful.  In  June  Wash- 
ington was  still  writing:  "In  vain  is  it  to  expect 
that  our  aim  is  to  be  accomplished  by  fond  wishes 
for  peace,  and  equally  ungenerous  and  fruitless 
will  it  be  for  one  State  to  depend  upon  another  to 
bring  this  to  pass."1  French  and  American  regi- 
ments remained,  therefore,  under  arms  and  waited, 
but  scarcely  did  anything  on  the  continent  but 
wait.  For  if  George  III  was  still  for  war,  the  mass 
of  his  people  were  not.  Rochambeau  availed 
himself  of  his  leisure  to  visit  the  accessible  parts 
of  the  country,  give  calls  and  dinners  to  his  neigh- 
bors, study  the  manners  and  resources  of  the  in- 
habitants, go  fox-hunting  "through  the  woods, 
accompanied  by  some  twenty  sportsmen.  We 
have  forced  more  than  thirty  foxes;  the  packs  of 
hounds  of  the  local  gentlemen  are  perfect,"  states 
Closen.  The  different  usages  of  the  French  and 
the  Americans  are  for  each  other  a  cause  of  merri- 

1To  Archibald  Gary,  June  15,  1782. 


100  KOCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

ment.  "On  New  Year's  Day  the  custom  of  the 
French  to  embrace,  even  in  the  street,  caused  much 
American  laughter,"  but,  the  young  aide  observes 
with  some  spite,  "their  shake  hands,  on  the  other 
side,  those  more  or  less  prolonged  and  sometimes 
very  hard-pressed  twitchings  of  the  hands  are  cer- 
tainly on  a  par  with  European  embracings." 

Rochambeau  had  established  himself  at  Wil- 
liamsburg,  the  quiet  and  dignified  capital  of  the 
then  immense  State  of  Virginia,  noted  for  its 
"Bruton  church,"  its  old  College  of  William  and 
Mary,  designed  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  and  the 
birthplace  of  the  far-famed  Phi  Beta  Kappa  fra- 
ternity, its  statue  of  the  former  English  governor, 
Lord  Botetourt,1  in  conspicuous  marble  wig  and 
court  mantle.  "America,  behold  your  friend," 
the  inscription  on  the  pedestal  reads. 

That  other  friend  of  America,  Rochambeau, 
took  up  his  quarters  in  the  college,  one  of  the 
buildings  of  which,  used  as  a  hospital  for  our 
troops,  accidentally  took  fire,  but  was  at  once  paid 
for  by  the  French  commander.  Seeing  more  of 
the  population,  Rochambeau  was  noting  a  num- 
ber of  traits  which  were  to  be  taken  up  again  by 
Tocqueville,  the  diffusion  of  the  ideas  of  religious 
tolerance,  the  absence  of  privileges,  equality  put 
into  practise.  "The  husbandman  in  his  habita- 
tion is  neither  a  castellated  lord  nor  a  tenant, 

1  White  marble;  signed  and  dated,  Richard  Hayward,  London, 
1773- 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  101 

but  a  landowner."  It  takes  him  thirty  to  forty 
years  to  rise  from  "the  house  made  of  logs  and 
posts,"  with  the  house  "of  well-joined  boards" 
as  an  intermediary  stage,  to  the  "house  in  bricks, 
which  is  the  acme  of  their  architecture."  Labor 
is  expensive  and  is  paid  a  dollar  a  day.  The  coun- 
try has  three  million  inhabitants,  but  will  easily 
support  a  little  more  than  thirty,  which  was 
not  such  a  bad  guess  since  the  thirteen  States 
of  Rochambeau's  day  have  now  thirty-seven. 
Men  are  fond  of  English  furniture,  and  women 
"have  a  great  liking  for  French  fashions."  In 
every  part  where  the  ravages  of  the  war  have  not 
been  felt  people  live  at  their  ease,  "and  the  little 
negro  is  ever  busy  clearing  and  laying  the  table." 

Faithful  Closen,  who  had  been  proposed  for  pro- 
motion on  account  of  his  gallant  conduct  at  the 
siege,  accompanied  the  general  everywhere,  and 
also  explored  separately,  on  his  own  account,  led 
sometimes  by  his  fondness  for  animals,  of  which 
he  was  making  "a  small  collection,  some  living 
and  some  stuffed  ones,  only  too  glad  if  they  can 
please  the  persons  for  whom  I  destine  them." 
He  takes  notes  on  raccoons,  investigates  opossums, 
and  visits  a  marsh  "full  of  subterranean  habita- 
tions of  beavers,"  and  he  sees  them  at  work.  He  is 
also  present  at  one  of  those  cock-fights  so  popular 
then  in  the  region,  "but  the  sight  is  a  little  too 
cruel  to  allow  one  to  derive  enjoyment  from  it." 

Sent   to   Portsmouth  with  letters  for  Mr.  de 


102  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Vaudreuil,  in  command  of  our  fleet,  Closen  be- 
comes acquainted  "with  a  very  curious  animal 
which  the  people  of  the  region  call  a  musk-cat,  but 
which  I  believe  to  be  the  puant"  (the  stinking 
one),  and  a  careful  description  shows  that,  in  any 
case,  the  name  well  fitted  the  animal.  He  also 
studies  groundhogs  on  the  same  occasion.  The 
charm  and  picturesqueness  of  wild  life  in  American 
forests  is  a  trait  which  French  officers  noted  with 
amused  curiosity  in  their  journals.  Describing 
his  long  journey  on  foot  from  the  Chesapeake, 
where  he  had  been  shipwrecked,  to  Valley  Forge, 
where  he  was  to  become  aide  to  his  Auvergnat 
compatriot,  Lafayette,  youthful  Pontgibaud,  with 
no  luggage  nor  money  left,  sleeping  in  the  open, 
writes  of  the  beauty  of  birds,  and  the  delightful 
liveliness  of  innumerable  little  squirrels,  "who 
jumped  from  branch  to  branch,  from  tree  to  tree, 
around  me.  They  seemed  to  accompany  the  tri- 
umphal march  of  a  young  warrior  toward  glory. 
...  It  is  a  fact  that,  with  their  jumps,  their 
gambols,  that  quantity  of  little  dancers,  so  nim- 
ble, so  clever,  retarded  my  walk.  .  .  .  Such  is 
the  way  with  people  of  eighteen;  the  present  mo- 
ment makes  them  forget  all  the  rest."1 

Rochambeau,  his  son,  and  two  aides,  one  of 

1  Memoir  es  du  Comte  de  More  (formerly  Chevalier  de  Pontgibaud), 
1898,  p.  56;  first  ed.,  Paris,  1827,  one  of  Balzac's  ventures  as  a 
printer. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  103 

whom  was  Closen,  journey  to  visit  at  Monticello 
the  already  famous  Jefferson;  they  take  with 
them  fourteen  horses,  sleep  in  the  houses  where 
they  chance  to  be  at  nightfall,  a  surprise  party 
which  may,  at  times,  have  caused  embarrassment, 
but  this  accorded  with  the  customs  of  the  day. 
The  hospitality  is,  according  to  occasions,  brilliant 
or  wretched,  "with  a  bed  for  the  general,  as  orna- 
mented as  the  canopy  for  a  procession,"  and  else- 
where "with  rats  which  come  and  tickle  our  ears." 
They  reach  the  handsome  house  of  the  "philos- 
opher," adorned  with  a  colonnade,  "the  platform 
of  which  is  very  prettily  fitted  with  all  sorts  of 
mythological  scenes." 

The  lord  of  the  place  dazzles  his  visitors  by  his 
encyclopaedic  knowledge.  Closen  describes  him 
as  "very  learned  in  belles-lettres,  in  history,  in 
geography,  etc.,  etc.,  being  better  versed  than  any 
in  the  statistics  of  America  in  general,  and  the 
interests  of  each  particular  province,  trade,  agri- 
culture, soil,  products,  in  a  word,  all  that  is  of 
greatest  use  to  know.  The  least  detail  of  the  wars 
here  since  the  beginning  of  the  troubles  is  fa- 
miliar to  him.  He  speaks  all  the  chief  languages 
to  perfection,  and  his  library  is  well  chosen,  and 
even  rather  large  in  spite  of  a  visit  paid  to  the 
place  by  a  detachment  of  Tarleton's  legion,  which 
has  proved  costly  and  has  greatly  frightened  his 
family." 


104  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Numerous  addresses  expressing  fervent  grati- 
tude were  received  by  Rochambeau,  from  Con- 
gress, from  the  legislatures  of  the  various  States, 
from  the  universities,  from  the  mayor  and  inhabi- 
tants of  Williamsburg,  the  latter  offering  their 
thanks  not  only  for  the  services  rendered  by  the 
general  in  his  "military  capacity,"  but,  they  said, 
1  'for  your  conduct  in  the  more  private  walks  of 
life,  and  the  happiness  we  have  derived  from  the 
social,  polite,  and  very  friendly  intercourse  we 
have  been  honored  with  by  yourself  and  the  officers 
of  the  French  army  in  general,  during  the  whole 
time  of  your  residence  among  us."  The  favor- 
able impression  left  by  an  army  permeated  with 
the  growing  humanitarian  spirit,  is  especially 
mentioned  in  several  of  those  addresses:  "May 
Heaven,"  wrote  "the  Governor,  council  and  rep- 
resentatives of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Providence  Plantations  in  General  Assembly  con- 
vened," "reward  your  exertions  in  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  the  particular  regard  you  have  paid 
to  the  rights  of  the  citizens." 

Writing  at  the  moment  when  departure  was  im- 
minent, the  Maryland  Assembly  recalled  in  its 
address  the  extraordinary  prejudices  prevailing 
shortly  before  in  America  against  all  that  was 
French :  ' '  To  preserve  in  troops  far  removed  from 
their  own  country  the  strictest  discipline  and  to 
convert  into  esteem  and  affection  deep  and  ancient 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  105 

prejudices  was  reserved  for  you.  .  .  .  We  view 
with  regret  the  departure  of  troops  which  have 
so  conducted,  so  endeared,  and  so  distinguished 
themselves,  and  we  pray  that  the  laurels  they  have 
gathered  before  Yorktown  may  never  fade,  and 
that  victory,  to  whatever  quarter  of  the  globe  they 
direct  their  arms,  may  follow  their  standard." 

The  important  result  of  a  change  in  American 
sentiment  toward  the  French,  apart  from  the 
military  service  rendered  by  them,  was  confirmed 
to  Rochambeau  by  La  Luzerne,  who  wrote  him: 
"Your  well-behaved  and  brave  army  has  not  only 
contributed  to  put  an  end  to  the  success  of  the 
English  in  this  country,  but  has  destroyed  in 
three  years  prejudices  deep-rooted  for  three  cen- 
turies."1 

The  "President  and  professors  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  William  and  Mary,"  using  a  style  which 
was  to  become  habitual  in  France  but  a  few  years 
later,  desired  to  address  Rochambeau,  "not  in  the 
prostituted  language  of  fashionable  flattery,  but 
with  the  voice  of  truth  and  republican  sincerity," 
and,  after  thanks  for  the  services  rendered  and 
the  payment  made  for  the  building  destroyed 
"by  an  accident  that  often  eludes  all  possible 
precaution,"  they  adverted  to  the  future  intellec- 
tual intercourse  between  the  two  nations,  saying: 

* 

October  8,  1782.  This  letter,  as  well  as  the  addresses,  in  the 
Rochambeau  papers. 


106  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

"Among  the  many  substantial  advantages  which 
this  country  hath  already  derived,  and  which 
must  ever  continue  to  flow  from  its  connection 
with  France,  we  are  persuaded  that  the  improve- 
ment of  useful  knowledge  will  not  be  the  least. 
A  number  of  distinguished  characters  in  your 
army  afford  us  the  happiest  presage  that  science 
as  well  as  liberty  will  acquire  vigor  from  the  fos- 
tering hand  of  your  nation." 

They  concluded :  ' '  You  have  reaped  the  noblest 
laurels  that  victory  can  bestow,  and  it  is,  perhaps, 
not  an  inferior  triumph  to  have  obtained  the  sin- 
cere affection  of  a  grateful  people." 

In  order  to  "foster,"  as  the  authors  of  the  ad- 
dress said,  such  sentiments  as  to  a  possible  in- 
tellectual intercourse,  the  French  King  sent  to 
this  university,  as  the  college  was  then  called, 
"two  hundred  volumes  of  the  greatest  and  best 
French  works,"  but,  La  Rochefoucauld  adds  after 
having  seen  them  in  1796,  they  arrived  greatly 
damaged,  "because  the  Richmond  merchant  who 
had  undertaken  to  convey  them  to  the  college 
forgot  them  for  a  pretty  long  time  in  his  cellar  in 
the  midst  of  his  oil  and  sugar  barrels."  Fire  has 
since  completed  the  havoc,  so  that  of  the  two 
hundred  only  two  are  now  left,  exhibited  under 
glass  in  the  library-museum  of  the  college.  They 
are  parts  of  the  works  of  Bailly,  then  of  European 
fame  as  an  astronomer  and  scientist,  who  was, 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  107 

however,  to  count  in  history  for  something  else 
than  his  Traite  sur  I'Atlantide  de  Platon,  for  he 
was  the  same  Bailly  who  a  few  years  later  pre- 
sided over  the  National  Assembly,  sending  to 
the  royal  purchaser  of  his  works  the  famous  reply : 
"The  nation  assembled  can  receive  no  orders," 
and  who,  two  days  after  the  fall  of  the  Bastille, 
was  acclaimed  by  the  crowd  mayor  of  Paris, 
while  Lafayette  was  acclaimed  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  National  Guard. 

Another  gift  of  books  was  sent,  with  the  same 
intent,  by  the  King  of  France  to  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  and,  though  many  have  disap- 
peared, the  fate  of  this  collection  has  been  happier. 
A  number  of  those  volumes  are  still  in  use  at 
Philadelphia,  works  which  had  been  selected  as 
being  likely  to  prove  of  greatest  advantage,  on 
science,  surgery,  history,  voyages,  and  bearing  the 
honored  names  of  Buffon,  of  Darwin's  forerunner, 
Lamarck,  of  Joinville,  Bougainville,  the  Benedic- 
tins  (Art  de  verifier  les  Dates),  and  the  same 
Bailly. 

Rochambeau,  who  had  begun  learning  English, 
set  himself  the  task  of  translating  the  addresses 
received  by  him,  and  several  such  versions  in  his 
handwriting  figure  among  his  papers. 

Closen,  intrusted  with  the  care  of  taking  to 
Congress  the  general's  answer  to  its  congratula- 
tions, rode  at  the  rate  of  over  one  hundred  miles 


108  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

a  day,  slept  "a  few  hours  in  a  bed  not  meant  to 
let  any  one  oversleep  himself,  thanks  either  to 
its  comfort  or  to  the  biting  and  abundant  company 
in  it,"  met  by  chance  at  Alexandria  "the  young, 
charming,  and  lovely  daughter-in-law  of  General 
Washington,"  Mrs.  Custis,  and  the  praise  of  her 
is,  from  now  on,  ceaseless:  "I  had  already  heard 
pompous  praise  of  her,  but  I  confess  people  had 
not  exaggerated.  This  lady  is  of  such  a  gay  dis- 
position, so  prepossessing,  with  such  perfect  edu- 
cation, that  she  cannot  fail  to  please  everybody." 
He  hands  his  despatches  to  Congress,  some  to 
Washington,  returns  at  the  same  rate  of  speed, 
having  as  guide  a  weaver,  so  anxious  to  be  through 
with  his  job  (two  couriers  had  just  been  killed), 
that  he  rode  at  the  maddest  pace.  He  reached 
Williamsburg  on  the  nth  of  May,  having  covered, 
deduction  made  of  the  indispensable  stoppings, 
"nine  hundred  and  eighty  miles  in  less  than  nine 
times  twenty-four  hours." 

As  the  summer  of  1782  was  drawing  near,  the 
French  army,  which  had  wintered  in  Virginia, 
moved  northward  in  view  of  possible  operations. 
This  was  for  Closen  an  occasion  to  visit  Mount 
Vernon,  where  Rochambeau  had  stopped  with 
Washington  the  year  before  when  on  their  way 
to  Yorktown.  "The  house,"  says  the  aide,  "is 
quite  vast  and  perfectly  distributed,  with  hand- 
some furniture,  and  is  admirably  kept,  without 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  109 

luxury.  There  are  two  pavilions  connected  with 
it,  and  a  number  of  farm  buildings.  .  .  .  Behind 
the  pavilion  on  the  right  is  an  immense  garden, 
with  the  most  exquisite  fruit  in  the  country." 

Mrs.  Washington  gracefully  entertains  the  vis- 
itor, as  well  as  Colonel  de  Custine,  the  same  who 
was  to  win  and  lose  battles  and  die  beheaded  in 
the  French  Revolution.  Some  ten  officers  of  the 
Saintonge  regiment,  which  was  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, are  also  received.  "Mr.  de  Bellegarde  came 
ahead  of  Mr.  de  Custine,  and  brought,  on  his  be- 
half, a  porcelain  service,  from  his  own  manufac- 
ture, at  Niderviller,  near  Phalsbourg,  of  great 
beauty  and  in  the  newest  taste,  with  the  arms  of 
General  Washington,  and  his  monogram  sur- 
mounted by  a  wreath  of  laurel.1  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton was  delighted  with  Mr.  de  Custine's  atten- 
tion, and  most  gracefully  expressed  her  gratitude." 

All  leave  that  same  evening  except  Closen,  who 
had  again  found  there  the  incomparable  Mrs. 
Custis  (whose  silhouette  he  took  and  inserted  in 
his  journal),  and  who  remained  "one  day  more, 
being  treated  with  the  utmost  affability  by  these 
ladies,  whose  society,"  he  notes,  "was  most  sweet 
and  pleasant  to  me."  He  leaves  at  last,  "rathe/ 
sad." 

1  A  large  bowl  from  the  original  set  is  preserved  in  the  National 
Museum  (Smithsonian  Institution)  at  Washington.  It  bears  only  the 
monogram  and  not  the  family  arms.  The  wreath  is  of  roses  with  a 
foliage  which  may  be  laurel. 


110  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Moving  northward  by  night  marches,  the  troops 
again  start  not  later  than  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  as  in  the  previous  summer;  the  French 
officers  notice  the  extraordinary  progress  realized 
since  their  first  visit.  At  Wilmington,  says  Closen, 
"some  fifty  brick  houses  have  been  built,  very 
fine  and  large,  since  we  first  passed,  which  gives 
a  charming  appearance  to  the  main  street."  At 
Philadelphia  La  Luzerne  is  ready  with  another 
magnificent  entertainment;  a  Dauphin  has  been 
born  to  France,  and  a  beautiful  hall  has  been 
built  on  purpose  for  the  intended  banquet  by  "a 
French  officer  serving  in  the  American  corps  of 
Engineers,"  Major  L'Enfant,  the  future  designer 
of  the  future  "federal  city." 

On  the  1 4th  of  August  Washington  and  Ro- 
chambeau  were  again  together,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  North  River,  and  the  American  troops  were 
again  reviewed  by  the  French  general.  They  are 
no  longer  in  tatters,  but  well  dressed,  and  have  a 
fine  appearance;  their  bearing,  their  manoeuvres 
are  perfect;  the  commander-in-chief,  "who  causes 
his  drums,"  Rochambeau  relates,  "to  beat  the 
French  March,"  is  delighted  to  show  his  soldiers 
to  advantage;  everybody  compliments  him. 

During  his  stay  at  Providence,  in  the  course  of 
his  journey  north,  Rochambeau  gave  numerous 
fetes,  a  charming  picture  of  which,  as  well  as  of 
the  American  society  attending  them,  is  furnished 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  111 

us  by  Segur:  "Mr.  de  Rochambeau,  desirous  to 
the  very  last  of  proving  by  the  details  of  his  con- 
duct, as  well  as  by  the  great  services  he  had  ren- 
dered, how  much  he  wished  to  keep  the  affection 
of  the  Americans  and  to  carry  away  their  regrets, 
gave  in  the  city  of  Providence  frequent  assemblies 
and  numerous  balls,  to  which  people  flocked  from 
ten  leagues  around. 

"I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  gathered  to- 
gether in  any  other  spot  more  gayety  and  less 
confusion,  more  pretty  women  and  more  happily 
married  couples,  more  grace  and  less  coquetry,  a 
more  complete  mingling  of  persons  of  all  classes, 
between  whom  an  equal  decency  allowed  no 
untoward  difference  to  be  seen.  That  decency, 
that  order,  that  wise  liberty,  that  felicity  of  the 
new  Republic,  so  ripe  from  its  very  cradle,  were 
the  continual  subject  of  my  surprise  and  the 
object  of  my  frequent  talks  with  the  Chevalier  de 
Chastellux."1 

1  Memoires,  souvenirs  el  anecdotes,  I,  402. 


IX 

In  the  autumn  of  1782  a  general  parting  took 
place,  Rochambeau  returning  to  France1  and  the 
army  being  sent  to  the  Isles,  believed  now  to  be 
threatened  by  the  English;  for  if  the  war  was 
practically  at  an  end  for  the  Americans  on  the 
continent,  it  was  not  yet  the  same  elsewhere  for 
us,  and  Suffren  especially  was  prosecuting  in  the 
Indies  his  famous  naval  campaign,  which,  owing 
to  the  lack  of  means  of  communication,  was  to 
be  continued  long  after  peace  had  been  signed. 

So  many  friendships  had  been  formed  that  there 
was  much  emotion  when  the  last  days  arrived.2 
On  the  ipth  of  October,  being  the  anniversary  of 

1  On  which  occasion  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  in  command  of  the 
fleet,  wrote  him  from  Boston,  November  18,  1782:  "  Je  suis  vraiment 
touche,  Monsieur,  de  ne  pouvoir  pas  avoir  1'honneur  de  vous  voir 
ici;  je  m'estimais  heureux  de  renouveler  la  connaissance  que  j'avais 
faite  avec  vous  a  Brest  chez  M.  d'Orvilliers.     Mais  je  ne  puis  qu'ap- 
plaudir  au  parti  que  vous  prenez  d'eviter  la  tristesse  des  adieux 
et  les  temoignages  de  la  sensibilite  de  tous  vos  officiers  en  se  voyant 
separes  de  leur  chef  qu'ils  respectent  et  ch6rissent  sincerement." 
(Rochambeau  papers.) 

2  An  anecdote  in  the  Autobiography  of  John  Trumbull,  the  painter, 
well  shows  how  lasting  were  the  feelings  for  the  land  and  the  people 
taken  home  with  them  by  the  French.     The  artist  tells  of  his  reach- 
ing Mulhouse  in  1795,  finding  it  "full  of  troops,"  with  no  accommo- 
dation of  any  sort.     He  is  taken  to  the  old  general  in  command: 

"The  veteran  looked  at  me  keenly  and  asked  bluntly:  'Who  are 
you,  an  Englishman?' 

112 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  113 

Yorktown,  Washington  offered  a  dinner  to  the 
French  officers,  who  on  the  same  day  took  leave 
of  him,  never  to  see  him  again.  "On  that  even- 
ing," says  Closen,  "we  took  leave  of  General 
Washington  and  of  the  other  officers  of  our  ac- 
quaintance, our  troops  being  to  sail  on  the  22d. 
There  is  no  sort  of  kindness  and  tokens  of  good 
will  we  have  not  received  from  General  Wash- 
ington ;  the  idea  of  parting  from  the  French  army, 
probably  forever,  seemed  to  cause  him  real  sor- 
row, having,  as  he  had,  received  the  most  convinc- 
ing proofs  of  the  respect,  the  veneration,  the  es- 
teem, and  even  the  attachment  which  every  in- 
dividual in  the  army  felt  for  him." 

'No,  general,  I  am  an  American  of  the  United  States.' 

'Ah!  do  you  know  Connecticut?' 

'Yes,  sir,  it  is  my  native  State.' 

'You  know,  then,  the  good  Governor  Trumbull?' 

'Yes,  general,  he  is  my  father.' 

'Oh!  mon  Dieu,  que  je  suis  charme.  .  .  .  Entrez,  entrez!'" 
And  all  that  is  best  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  newcomer  by 
the  soldier,  who  turns  out  to  be  a  former  member  of  the  Lauzun 
legion.  The  artist  adds:  "The  old  general  kept  me  up  almost  all 
night,  inquiring  of  everybody  and  of  everything  in  America."  Some 
papers  are  brought  for  him  to  sign,  which  he  does  with  his  left  hand, 
and,  Trumbull  noticing  it,  "'Yes,'  said  he,  'last  year,  in  Belgium, 
the  Austrians  cut  me  to  pieces  and  left  me  for  dead,  but  I  recovered, 
and,  finding  my  right  hand  ruined,  I  have  learned  to  use  my  left,  and 
I  can  write  and  fence  with  it  tolerably.' 

'"But,  sir,'  said  I,  'why  did  you  not  retire  from  service?' 
" '  Retire ! '  exclaimed  he.     '  Ha !  I  was  born  in  a  camp,  have  passed 
all  my  life  in  the  service,  and  will  die  in  a  camp,  or  on  the  field.' 

"This  is,"  Trumbull  concludes,  "a  faithful  picture  of  the  military 
enthusiasm  of  the  time — 1795." 


114  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

After  having  taken  leave,  ''in  tenderest  fash- 
ion," of  the  American  commander,  who  promised 
"an  enduring  fraternal  friendship,"  Rochambeau, 
carrying  with  him  two  bronze  field-pieces  taken 
at  Yorktown,  presented  by  Congress,  and  adorned 
with  inscriptions,  the  engraving  of  which  had 
been  supervised  by  Washington,1  sailed  for  France 
on  the  Enter aude,  early  in  January,  1783.  An 
English  warship  which  had  been  cruising  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Chesapeake  nearly  captured  him, 
and  it  was  only  by  throwing  overboard  her  spare 
masts  and  part  of  her  artillery  that  the  Emeraude, 
thus  become  lighter  and  faster,  could  escape. 
The  general  learned,  on  landing,  of  the  peace 
which  Vergennes  had  considered,  from  the  first, 
as  a  certain,  though  not  immediate,  consequence 
of  the  taking  of  Yorktown.  "The  homages  of  all 
Frenchmen  go  to  you,"  he  had  written  to  Ro- 
chambeau, adding:  "You  have  restored  to  our 
arms  all  their  lustre,  and  you  have  laid  the  corner- 
stone for  the  raising,  which  we  expect,  of  an  honor- 
able peace."  The  hour  for  it  had  now  struck, 
and  while  Suffren  had  yet  to  win  the  naval  battle 
of  Goudelour,  the  preliminaries  had  been  signed 
at  Versailles  on  the  2oth  of  January,  1783. 

1  "...  An  inscription  engraved  on  them,  expressive  of  the  occa- 
sion. I  find  a  difficulty  in  getting  the  engraving  properly  executed. 
When  it  will  be  finished,  I  shall  with  peculiar  pleasure  put  the  cannon 
into  your  possession."  Washington  to  Rochambeau,  February  2, 
1782. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  115 

The  King,  the  ministers,  the  whole  country 
gave  Rochambeau  the  welcome  he  deserved.  At 
his  first  audience  on  his  return  he  had  asked 
Louis  XVI,  as  being  his  chief  request,  permission 
to  divide  the  praise  bestowed  on  him  with  the 
unfortunate  de  Grasse,  now  a  prisoner  of  the 
English  after  the  battle  of  the  Saintes,  where, 
fighting  30  against  37,  he  had  lost  seven  ships, 
including  the  Ville  de  Paris  (which  had  400  dead 
and  500  wounded),  all  so  damaged  by  the  most 
furious  resistance  that,  owing  to  grounding,  to 
sinking,  or  to  fire,  not  one  reached  the  English 
waters.1  Rochambeau  received  the  blue  ribbon  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  was<  appointed  governor  of  Pic- 
ardy,  and  a  few  years  later  became  a  marshal 
of  France.  Owing  to  the  proximity  of  his  new 
post,  he  was  able  twice  to  visit  England,  where 
he  met  again  his  dear  La  Luzerne,  now  French 
ambassador  in  London,  and  his  former  foe,  Ad- 
miral Hood,  who  received  him  with  open  arms. 
But  the  tokens  of  friendship  which  touched  him 
most  came  from  officers  of  Cornwallis's  army: 
"They  manifested,"  he  writes,  "in  the  most 
public  manner  their  gratitude  for  the  humanity 
with  which  they  had  been  treated  by  the  French 
army  after  their  surrender." 

*De  Grasse  died  in  January,  1788.  "The  Cincinnati  in  some  of 
the  States  have  gone  into  mourning  for  him."  Washington  to 
Rochambeau,  April  28,  1788. 


116  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Rochambeau  was  keeping  up  with  Washington 
a  most  affectionate  correspondence,  still  partly 
unpublished,  the  great  American  often  reminding 
him  of  his  "friendship  and  love"  for  his  "com- 
panions in  war,"  discussing  a  possible  visit  to 
France,  and  describing  his  life  now  spent  "in 
rural  employments  and  in  contemplation  of  those 
friendships  which  the  Revolution  enabled  me  to 
form  with  so  many  worthy  characters  of  your 
nation,  through  whose  assistance  I  can  now  sit 
down  in  my  calm  retreat."  Dreaming  of  a  hu- 
manity less  agitated  than  that  he  had  known, 
dreaming  dreams  which  were  not  to  be  soon  re- 
alized, he  was  writing  to  Rochambeau,  from  Mount 
Vernon,  on  September  7,  1785:  "Although  it  is 
against  the  profession  of  arms,  I  wish  to  see  all 
the  world  at  peace." 

"Much  as  he  may  wish  to  conceal  himself  and 
lead  the  life  of  a  plain  man,  he  will  ever  be  the 
first  citizen  of  the  United  States,"  La  Luzerne 
had  written  to  Vergennes,  and  the  truth  of  the 
statement  was  shown  when  a  unanimous  election 
made  of  the  former  commander-in-chief  the  first 
President  of  the  new  republic,  in  the  year  when 
the  States  General  met  in  France  and  our  own 
Revolution  began. 

Knowing  the  friendly  dispositions  preserved 
by  Rochambeau  toward  Americans,1  Washington 

1  Jefferson  seems  to  have  feared  that  the  souvenir  of  Rochambeau 
might  soon  fade.  He  wrote  to  Madison,  February  8,  1786:  "Count 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  117 

often  gave  those  going  abroad  letters  of  introduc- 
tion to  him;  one  day  the  man  was  Gouverneur 
Morris,  so  well  known  afterward;  another  day 
it  was  a  poet  of  great  fame  then,  of  not  so  great 
now.  Less  sure  of  his  ground  when  the  question 
was  of  Parnassus  than  when  it  was  of  battle- 
fields, Washington  had  described  this  traveller 
to  Lafayette  as  being  "considered  by  those  who 
are  good  judges  to  be  a  genius  of  the  first  magni- 
tude." To  Rochambeau  he  introduced  him  as 
"the  author  of  an  admirable  poem  in  which  he 
has  worthily  celebrated  the  glory  of  your  nation 
in  general,  and  of  yourself  in  particular."1  The 
poet  was  that  Joel  Barlow,  of  Hartford,  who,  hav- 
ing become  later  minister  of  the  United  States  to 
France,  died  in  a  Polish  village  in  the  course  of  a 
journey  undertaken  to. present  his  credentials  to 
the  chief  of  the  state,  who,  for-  important  reasons, 
had  been  unable  to  grant  him  an  audience  else- 
where than  in  Russia,  the  year  being  1812,  and 
the  sovereign  Emperor  Napoleon.2 
The  poem  alluded  to  by  Washington  was  an 

Rochambeau,  too,  has  deserved  more  attention  than  he  has  received. 
Why  not  set  up  his  bust,  that  of  Gates,  Greene,  Franklin  in  your  new 
Capitol?"  No  bust  was  placed  in  the  Capitol,  but  the  raising  of 
the  statue  in  Lafayette  Square,  Washington,  in  1902,  has  proved 
that,  after  so  many  years,  Rochambeau  was  not  forgotten  in  America. 

xMay  28,  1788. 

2  In  a  letter  of  July  31, 1789,  Rochambeau  informs  Washington  of 
Barlow's  arrival,  "and  I  made  him  all  the  good  reception  that  he 
deserves  by  himself  and  by  the  honorable  commendation  that  you 
give  to  him."  In  Rochambeau's  English;  Washington  papers. 


118  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

epic  one,  called  the  Vision  of  Columbus,  in  which 
an  angel  appears  to  the  navigator  in  his  legendary 
prison  and  reveals  to  him,  in  Virgilian  fashion, 
the  future  of  America.  Washington,  Wayne, 
Greene  are  thus  shown  him,  as  well  as 

Brave  Rochambeau  in  gleamy  steel  array'd, 

a  description  which,  if  brave  Rochambeau  ever 
saw  it,  must  have  made  him  smile. 

Rochambeau' s  letters  are  in  such  English  as  we 
have  seen  he  had  been  able,  with  commendable 
zeal,  to  learn  late  in  life.  The  French  general 
keeps  the  American  leader  informed  of  what 
goes  on  in  France,  in  England,  and  Europe,  be- 
stows the  highest  praise  on  Pitt,  "a  wise  man 
who  sets  finances  (of  the  English)  in  good  order," 
and  gives  an  account  of  a  visit  paid  him  by  Corn- 
wallis  at  Calais:  "I  have  seen  Cornwallis  last 
summer  at  Calais.  ...  I  gave  him  a  supper  in 
little  committee;1  he  was  very  polite,  but,  as  you 
may  believe,  I  could  not  drink  with  him  your 
health  in  toast."2 

He  tells  Washington  of  Franklin's  departure 
from  France,  very  old,  very  ill,  greatly  admired, 
"having  the  courage  to  undertake  so  long  a  voy- 
age to  go  and  die  in  the  bosom  of  his  native 
country.  It  will  be  impossible  for  him,  at  his 

1  Fr.,  "en  petit  comite" — a  small  party  of  friends. 

2  January  7,  1786.    Washington  papers. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  119 

coming  back  [to]  America,  to  go  and  visit  you,  but 
I  told  him  that  you  would  certainly  go  and  see 
him,  and  that  I  had  always  heard  you  speaking 
of  him  in  the  best  terms  and  having  a  great  con- 
sideration for  his  respectable  character.  He  will 
have  a  great  joy  to  see  you  again,  and  I  should  be 
very  happy  if  I  could  enjoy  the  same  pleasure."1 

An  affectionate  interest  for  one  another  and 
one  another's  families  appears  in  all  these  letters, 
as  well  as  a  cherishing  of  common  souvenirs. 
Rochambeau  asks  to  be  remembered  to  his  former 
American  comrades:  "A  thousand  kindnessfes] 
and  compliments  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  to  Mr.  Knox, 
and  to  all  my  anciens  camarades  and  friends  which 
are  near  you."2 

The  Countess  de  Rochambeau  sometimes  takes 
up  the  pen,  and  in  one  of  her  letters  appeals  to 
Washington  in  favor  of  dear  Closen  who,  though 
he  had  every  right  to  be  included  in  it,  had  been 
forgotten  when  the  list  of  the  original  Cincinnati 
had  been  drawn  up.3  The  request  was  at  once 
granted. 

1  Paris,  June,  1785  (ibid). 

'"Rochambeau  near  Vend6me,  April  n,  1790." 

3  Here  is  this  letter  in  full: 

Paris  the  i8th  November,  1790. 
SIR: 

I  hope  that  your  Excellency  will  give  me  the  leave  to  beg  a  favor 
of  your  justice.  I  think  it  just  to  intercede  for  the  Baron  de  Closen 
who  was  an  aide-de-camp  to  Mr.  Rochambeau  during  the  Ameri- 
can war.  He  longs  with  the  desire  to  be  a  member  of  the  associa- 


120  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Two  gouaches  had  been  painted  by  the  famous 
miniaturist  Van  Blarenberghe,  one  representing 
the  storming  of  the  redoubts  at  Yorktown,  the 
other  the  surrender  of  the  garrison.  They  were 
for  the  King,  and  are  well  known  nowadays  to 
every  one  familiar  with  the  Versailles  Museum. 
Their  topographical  accuracy  is  so  remarkable  that 
it  had  always  been  believed  the  painter  had  had 
the  help  of  some  French  officer  present  at  the 
siege.  Rochambeau  writes  to  Washington  about 
those  pictures  and  gives  us  the  name  of  the  officer 
who  had  actually  helped  the  miniaturist,  a  well- 
known  name,  that  of  Berthier :  ' '  [There  have]  been 
presented  yesterday  to  the  King,  my  dear  general, 
two  pictures  to  put  in  his  closet  (study) ,  which  have 
been  done  by  an  excellent  painter,  one  represent- 
ing the  siege  of  York,  and  the  other  the  defile  of 
the  British  army  between  the  American  and  the 
French  armies. 

"Mr.  le  Marshal  de  Segur  promised  me  copies 
of  them  which  I  will  place  in  my  closet  on  the 
right  and  left  sides  of  your  picture.  Besides 
that  they  are  excellent  paintings,  they  have  been 

tion  of  the  Cincinnati.  The  officers  who  were  employed  in  the 
French  army  and  younger  than  him  in  the  military  service  have 
been  decorated  with  this  emblem  of  liberty,  and  such  a  reward  given 
by  your  Excellency's  hand  shall  increase  its  value. 

I  flatter  myself  that  you  will  receive  the  assurances  of  the  respect 
and  veneration  I  have  for  your  talents  and  your  virtue,  well  known 
in  the  whole  world. 

I  have  (etc.),  LA  COMTESSE  DE  ROCHAMBEAU. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  121 

drawn  both  by  the  truth  and  by  an  excellent  de- 
sign by  the  young  Berthier,  who  was  deputed 
quartermaster  at  the  said  siege."1 

Washington  having  alluded,  as  he  was  fond  of 
doing,  to  the  rest  he  had  at  last  secured  for  the 
remnant  of  his  life,  as  he  thought,  under  the 
shadow  of  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree,  Rochambeau 
in  his  answer  courteously  and  sincerely  compli- 
ments him  on  the  "philosophical"  but  not  defini- 
tive quiet  he  now  enjoys  under  the  shadow — "of 
his  laurel-tree.112 

The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  had  found 
Rochambeau  already  an  officer  in  the  French  army ; 
the  Revolution  found  him  still  an  officer  in  the 
French  army,  defending  the  frontier  as  a  marshal 
of  France  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  northern 
troops.  In  1792  he  definitively  withdrew  to  Ro- 
chambeau, barely  escaping  with  his  life  during 
the  Terror.  A  striking  and  touching  thing  it  is 
to  note  that,  when  a  prisoner  in  that  "horrible 
sepulchre,"  the  Conciergerie,  he  appealed  to  the 

1  June,  1785.    Two  of  the  Berthier  brothers  had  taken  part,  as  we 
saw,  in  the  expedition.     The  one  alluded  to  here  is  the  younger, 
Cesar-Gabriel,  not  the  older,  Louis-Alexandre,  who  became  Prince 
de  Wagram.    Both  are  described  in  their  "etats  de  service,"  pre- 
served among  the  Rochambeau  papers,  as  expert  draftsmen.    The 
notice  concerning  the  younger,  who  was  a  captain  of  dragoons,  reads: 
"II  s'est  fait  remarquer  ainsi  que  son  fre*re  par  son  talent  a  dessiner 
et  lever  des  plans." 

2  Concerning  this  correspondence,  as  continued  during  the  French 
Revolution,  see  below,  pp.  245  ff. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

''Citizen  President  of  the  Revolutionary  Tri- 
bunal," and  invoked  as  a  safeguard  the  great 
name  of  Washington,  "my  colleague  and  my  friend 
in  the  war  we  made  together  for  the  liberty  of 
America." 

Luckier  than  many  of  his  companions  in  arms 
of  the  American  war,  than  Lauzun,  Custine, 
d'Estaing,  -Broglie,  Dillon,  and  others,  Rocham- 
beau  escaped  the  scaffold.  He  lived  long  enough 
to  see  rise  to  glory  that  young  man  who  was  teach- 
ing the  world  better  military  tactics  than  even  the 
book  of  Count  de  Guibert,  Bonaparte,  now  First 
Consul  of  the  French  Republic.  Bonaparte  had 
great  respect  for  the  old  marshal,  who  was  pre- 
sented to  him  by  the  minister  of  war  in  1803;  he 
received  him  surrounded  by  his  generals,  and  as 
the  soldier  of  Klostercamp  and  Yorktown  entered 
he  said,  "Monsieur  le  Marechal,  here  are  your 
pupils";  and  the  old  man  answered:  "They  have 
surpassed  their  master." 

After  having  been  very  near  death  from  his 
wounds  in  1747,  Rochambeau  died  only  in  1807, 
being  then  in  his  castle  of  Rochambeau,  in  Vendo- 
mois,  and  aged  eighty-two.  He  was  buried  in 
the  neighboring  village  of  Thore,  in  a  tomb  of 
black  and  white  marble,  in  the  classical  style 
then  in  vogue.  An  inscription  devised  by  his 
wife  at  the  evening  of  a  very  long  life,  draws  a 
touching  picture  of  those  qualities  which  had  won 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  123 

her  heart  more  than  half  a  century  before:  "A 
model  as  admirable  in  his  family  as  in  his  armies, 
an  enlightened  mind,  indulgent,  ever  thinking  of 
the  interests  of  others  ...  a  happy  and  honored 
old  age  has  been  for  him  the  crowning  of  a  spot- 
less life.  Those  who  had  been  his  vassals  had 
become  his  children.  .  .  .  His  tomb  awaits  me; 
before  descending  to  it  I  have  desired  to  engrave 
upon  it  the  memory  of  so  many  merits  and  vir- 
tues, as  a  token  of  gratitude  for  fifty  years  of 
happiness."  On  a  parallel  slab  one  reads:  "Here 
lies  Jeanne  Therese  Telles  d'Acosta,  who  died  at 
Rochambeau,  aged  ninety-four,  May  19,  1824." 

In  the  castle  are  still  to  be  seen  the  exquisite  por- 
trait, by  Latour,  of  her  who  in  her  old  age  had 
written  the  inscription,  several  portraits  of  the 
marshal,  and  of  his  ancestors  from  the  first  Vi- 
meur,  who  had  become,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
lord  of  Rochambeau,  the  portrait  in  the  white 
uniform  of  Auvergne  of  the  old  soldier's  son,  who 
died  at  Leipzig,  the  sword  worn  at  Yorktown,  the 
eagle  of  the  Cincinnati  side  by  side  with  the  star 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  before-mentioned  gouaches 
by  Van  Blarenberghe,  a  portrait  of  Washing- 
ton, given  by  him  to  his  French  friend  and  also 
mentioned  in  their  correspondence,  and  many 
other  historical  relics.  But  the  two  bronze  field- 
pieces  offered  by  Congress  are  no  longer  there, 
having  been  commandeered  during  the  Revolu- 


124  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

tion.  In  front  of  the  simple  and  noble  facade 
of  the  slate-roofed  castle,  at  the  foot  of  the  ter- 
race, the  Loir  flows,  brimful,  between  woods  and 
meadows,  the  same  river  that  fills  such  a  great 
place  in  French  literature,  because  of  a  distant 
relative  of  the  Rochambeaus  of  old,  Pierre  de 
Ronsard. 

Visiting  some  years  ago  the  place  and  the  tomb, 
and  standing  beside  the  grave  of  the  marshal,  it 
occurred  to  me  that  it  would  be  appropriate  if 
some  day  trees  from  Mount  Vernon  could  spread 
their  shade  over  the  remains  of  that  friend  of 
Washington  and  the  American  cause.  With  the 
assent  of  the  family  and  of  the  mayor  of  Thore, 
and  thanks  to  the  good  will  of  the  ladies  of  the 
Mount  Vernon  Association,  this  idea  was  realized, 
and  half  a  dozen  seedlings  from  trees  planted  by 
Washington  were  sent  to  be  placed  around  Ro- 
chambeau's  monument:  two  elms,  two  maples, 
two  redbuds,  and  six  plants  of  ivy  from  Wash- 
ington's tomb.  The  last  news  received  about 
them  showed  that  they  had  taken  root  and  were 
growing. 


Some  will,  perhaps,  desire  to  know  what  be- 
came of  Closen.  Sent  to  the  Islands  (the  West 
Indies)  with  the  rest  of  the  army,  he  felt,  like  all 
his  comrades,  greatly  disappointed,  more  even 
than  the  others,  on  account  of  his  bride,  whom 
American  beauties  had  not  caused  him  to  forget. 
He  had  inserted  in  his  journal  a  page  of  silhou- 
ettes representing  a  dozen  of  the  latter,  with  the 
name  inscribed  on  each;  but  he  had  taken  care 
to  write  underneath:  "Honni  soit  qui  mal  y 
pense."  When  about  to  go  on  board  he  writes: 
"I  scarcely  dare  say  what  I  experienced  and 
which  was  the  dominating  sentiment,  whether 
my  attachment  to  all  that  I  love  or  ambition 
added  to  sensitiveness  on  the  principles  of  honor. 
Reason,  however,  soon  took  the  lead  and  decided 
in  favor  of  the  latter.  .  .  .  Let  me  be  patient 
and  do  my  duty." 

To  leave  Rochambeau  was  for  him  one  more 
cause  of  pain:  "I  shall  never  insist  enough,  nor 
sufficiently  describe  the  sorrow  I  felt  when  sepa- 
rated from  my  worthy  and  respectable  general; 
I  lose  more  than  any  one  else  in  the  army.  .  .  . 
Attentive  as  I  was  to  all  he  had  to  say  about 
battles,  marches,  the  selection  of  positions,  sieges, 

125 


126  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

in  a  word,  to  all  that  pertains  to  the  profession,  I 
have  always  tried  to  profit  by  his  so  instructive 
talks.  ...  I  must  be  resigned." 

Once  again,  therefore,  life  begins  on  those  de- 
tested "sabots,"  a  large-sized  sabot,  this  time, 
namely  the  Brave,  of  seventy-four  guns,  "quite 
recently  lined  with  copper,"  a  sad  place  of  abode, 
however,  in  bad  weather,  or  even  in  any  weather : 
"One  can  scarcely  imagine  the  bigness  of  the  sea, 
the  noise,  the  height  of  the  waves,  such  pitching 
and  rolling  that  it  was  impossible  to  stand;  the 
ships  disappearing  at  times  as  if  they  had  been 
swallowed  by  the  sea,  to  touch  it  the  instant  after 
only  with  a  tiny  bit  of  the  keel.  What  a  nasty 
element,  and  how  sincerely  we  hate  it,  all  of  us 
of  the  land  troops !  The  lugubrious  noise  of  the 
masts,  the  crics-cracs  of  the  vessel,  the  terrible 
movements  which  on  the  sudden  raise  you,  and 
to  which  we  were  not  at  all  accustomed,  the  per- 
petual encumbrance  that  forty-five  officers  are 
for  each  other,  forty  having  no  other  place  of 
refuge  than  a  single  room  for  them  all,  the  sad 
faces  of  those  who  are  sick  .  .  .  the  dirt,  the 
boredom,  the  feeling  that  one  is  shut  up  in  a 
sabot  as  in  a  state  prison  ...  all  this  is  only  part 
of  what  goes  to  make  life  unpleasant  for  a  land 
officer  on  a  vessel,  even  a  naval  one.  .  .  .  Let 
us  take  courage."1 

1  December  29,  1782. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  127 

Few  diversions.  They  meet  a  slave-ship  under 
the  Austrian  flag,  an  "abominable  and  cruel 
sight,"  with  "that  iron  chain  running  from  one 
end  of  the  ship  to  the  other,  the  negroes  being  tied 
there,  two  and  two,"  stark  naked  and  harshly 
beaten  if  they  make  any  movement  which  dis- 
pleases the  captain.  The  latter,  who  is  from  Bor- 
deaux, salutes  his  country's  war  flag  with  three 
"Vive  le  Roi!"  They  signal  to  him  an  answer 
which  cannot  be  transcribed.  No  one  knows 
where  they  go.  "Sail  on,"  philosophically  writes 
Closen. 

They  touch  at  Porto  Rico,  at  Curacao,  where 
the  fleet  is  saddened  by  the  loss  of  the  Bourgogne, 
at  Porto  Cabello  (Venezuela),  where  they  make 
some  stay,  and  where  Closen  loses  no  time  in  re- 
suming his  observations  on  natives,  men  and 
beasts,  tatous,  monkeys,  caimans,  "enormous 
lizards  quite  different  from  ours,"  houses  which 
consist  in  one  ground  floor  divided  into  three 
rooms.  The  "company  of  the  Caracque"  (Ca- 
racas) keeps  the  people  in  a  state  of  restraint 
and  slavery.  Taxation  is  enormous."  Religious 
intolerance  is  very  troublesome:  "Though  the  In- 
quisition is  not  as  rigorous  in  its  searches  as  in 
Europe,  for  there  is  but  one  commissioner  at 
Caracque,  there  is,  however,  too  much  fanaticism, 
too  many  absurd  superstitions,  in  a  word,  too 
much  ignorance  among  the  inhabitants,  who  can 


128  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

never  say  a  word  or  walk  a  step  without  saying  an 
Ave,  crossing  themselves  twenty  times,  or  kissing 
a  chaplet  which  they  ever  have  dangling  from 
their  neck  with  a  somewhat  considerable  accom- 
paniment of  relics  and  crosses.  One  gentleman, 
in  order  to  play  a  trick  on  me,  in  the  private 
houses  where  I  had  gained  access  so  as  to  satisfy 
my  curiosity  and  desire  of  instruction,  told  a  few 
people  that  I  was  a  Protestant.  What  signs  of 
the  cross  at -the  news!  And  they  would  cease- 
lessly repeat:  Malacca  Christiana — a  bad  Chris- 
tian!" 

On  the  24th  of  March  (1783)  great  news  reached 
them:  the  French  vessel  Andromaque  arrived, 
"with  the  grand  white  flag  on  her  foremast,  as  a 
signal  of  peace.  The  minute  after  all  our  men- 
of-war  were  decked  with  flags."  There  wrere  a 
few  more  incidents,  like  the  capture  of  some 
French  officers,  who  were  quietly  rowing  in  open 
boats,  by  "the  Albemarle,  of  twenty-four  guns, 
commanded  by  Captain  Nelson,  of  whom  these 
gentlemen  speak  in  the  highest  terms."  As  soon 
as  the  news  of  the  peace  was  given  him  they  were 
released  by  the  future  enemy  of  Napoleon. 

The  hour  for  the  return  home  had  struck  at 
last.  It  was  delayed  by  brief  stays  in  some  parts 
of  the  French  West  Indies,  notably  Cap  Fran- 
£ais,  Santo  Domingo  (now  Cap  Haitien).  "A  few 
days  before  our  arrival  at  the  Cape  Prince  William, 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  129 

Duke  of  Lancaster,  third  son  of  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, had  come  and  spent  there  two  days,  while 
the  English  squadron  was  cruising  in  the  roads. 
Great  festivities  had  been  arranged  in  his  honor," 
— for  there  was  really  no  hatred  against  the  enemy 
of  the  day  before. 

Some  calms  and  some  storms  also  delayed  the 
return,  with  the  usual  "criiiiicks  craaaaaks"  of 
the  masts,  the  journey  being  occupied  in  tran- 
scribing the  "notes  and  journals  on  the  two 
Americas,"  and  enlivened  by  the  saving  of  the 
parrakeet  of  a  Spanish  lady  who  had  been  ad- 
mitted with  her  family  on  board  the  Brave. 
"Frightened  by  something,  the  little  parrakeet 
flies  off  and  falls  into  the  sea.  The  lady's  negro, 
luckily  happening  to  be  on  the  same  side,  jumps 
just  as  he  is,  with  no  time  to  think,  dives,  reap- 
pears, cries,  '  Cato  !  Cato  ! '  joins  the  parrakeet, 
puts  her  on  his  woolly  head,  and  returns  to  the 
ship."  Delighted,  the  lady  "allows  this  black 
saviour  to  kiss  her  hand,  a  unique  distinction  for 
a  slave,  and  bestows  on  him  a  life  pension  of  one 
hundred  francs.  Many  sailors  would  have  liked 
to  do  the  same,  had  they  known." 

Land  is  now  descried;  they  see  again  the  sights 
noted  when  sailing  for  America:  these  "coasts 
thick-decked  with  live  people,  fruit-trees  and  other 
delightful  objects."  All  is  delightful;  the  joy  is 
universal;  they  make  arrangements  to  reach 


130  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

Paris,  which  Closen  did  in  magnificent  style. 
"And  I,"  we  read  in  his  journal,  "after  having 
bought  a  fine  coach  where  I  could  place,  before, 
behind,  on  the  top,  my  servants,  consisting  of  a 
white  man  and  of  my  faithful  and  superb  black 
Peter,  and  with  them  three  monkeys,  four  parrots, 
and  six  parrakeets,  posted  to  Paris  in  this  com- 
pany, a  noisy  one  and  difficult  to  maintain  clean 
and  in  good  order.  .  .  .  The  next  day  (June  22) 
I  was  at  Saint-Pol-de-Leon,  my  last  quarters  be- 
fore sailing  for  America,  and  saw  again  with 
hearty  rejoicings  the  respectable  Kersabiec  family 
which  had  so  well  tended  me  throughout  my  con- 
valescence after  a  deadly  disease."  He  thought 
he  could  do  no  less  than  present  them  with  one 
of  his  parrakeets  as  a  token  of  "gratitude  and 
friendship." 

At  Guingamp  he  finds  the  Du  Dresnays,  other 
friends  of  his,  and  reaches  Paris,  he  writes,  on  the 
3oth  of  June,  with  "all  my  live  beings  of  all  colors, 
myself  looking  an  Indian  so  tanned  and  sun- 
burnt was  my  face,  exception  made  for  my  fore- 
head, which  my  hat  had  preserved  quite  white." 

The  Rochambeau  family  made  him  leave  his 
inn  and  stay  with  them  in  their  beautiful  house 
of  the  Rue  du  Cherche-Midi.  The  general  ("my 
kind  and  respectable  military  father,"  says  Closen) 
presented  him  to  the  minister  of  war,  Marshal  de 
Segur,  who  granted  the  young  officer  a  flattering 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  131 

welcome,  and  the  journal  closes  as  novels  used  to 
end  in  olden  days,  and  as  the  first  part  of  well- 
ordered,  happy  lives  will  ever  continue  to  end. 
Leaving  Paris  with  the  promise  of  a  colonelcy  en 
second — "a  very  eventual  ministerial  bouquet" — 
he  went  home  to  Deux-Ponts:  "There  I  found 
my  beautiful  fiancee,  my  dear,  my  divine  Doris, 
who  had  had  the  constancy  to  keep  for  me  her 
heart  and  her  hand  during  the  four  years  of  my 
absence  in  America,  in  spite  of  several  proposals 
received  by  her,  even  from  men  much  better  en- 
dowed with  worldly  goods,  my  share  consisting 
only  in  the  before  mentioned  ministerial  promise 
and  in  the  reputation  of  an  honest  man  and  a 
good  soldier." 

I  shall  only  add  that  the  ministerial  promise 
was  kept,  and  that  it  was  as  a  colonel  and  a  knight 
of  Saint  Louis  that  Closen  found  himself  aide-de- 
camp again  to  his  old  chief,  Rochambeau,  charged 
with  the  defense  of  the  northern  frontier  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Revolution.1 

Faded  inks,  hushed  voices.  The  remembrance 
of  the  work  remains,  however,  and  cannot  fade; 

1 A  lithographed  portrait  mentions  the  later-day  titles  and  dig- 
nities of:  "I.  C.  Louis,  Baron  de  Closen,  Marechal  de  Camp,  cham- 
bellan  et  chevalier  des  ordres  francais  pour  le  Merite  et  de  la  Legion 
d'honneur,  ainsi  que  de  celui  de  Cincinnatus  des  Etats  Unis  de 
rAme"rique  Septentrionale."  Reproduced  by  C.  W.  Bowen,  who 
first  drew  attention  to  this  journal,  Century  Magazine,  February, 
1907.  Closen  died  in  1830,  aged  seventy-five. 


132  ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA 

for  its  grandeur  becomes,  from  year  to  year,  more 
apparent.  In  less  than  a  century  and  a  half  New 
York  has  passed  from  the  ten  thousand  inhabi- 
tants it  possessed  under  Clinton  to  the  five  million 
and  more  of  to-day.  Philadelphia,  once  the  chief 
city,  "an  immense  town,"  Closen  had  called  it, 
has  now  ten  times  more  houses  than  it  had  citi- 
zens. Partly  owing  again  to  France,  ceding,  un- 
asked, the  whole  territory  of  Louisiana  in  1803,  the 
frontier  of  this  country,  which  the  upper  Hudson 
formerly  divided  in  its  centre,  has  been  pushed 
back  to  the  Pacific ;  the  three  million  Americans  of 
Washington  and  Rochambeau  have  become  the 
one  hundred  million  of  to-day.  From  the  time 
when  the  flags  of  the  two  countries  floated  on  the 
ruins  of  Yorktown  the  equilibrium  of  the  world 
has  been  altered. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  case  in  which,  with  the 
unavoidable  mixture  of  human  interests,  a  war 
has  been  more  undoubtedly  waged  for  an  idea. 
The  fact  was  made  obvious  at  the  peace,  when 
victorious  France,  being  offered  Canada  for  a 
separate  settlement,  refused,1  and  kept  her  word 
not  to  accept  any  material  advantage,  the  whole 

1  Which  was  done  in  a  letter  giving  as  a  reason  "  that,  whenever  the 
two  crowns  should  come  to  treat,  his  Most  Christian  Majesty  would 
show  how  much  the  engagements  he  might  enter  into  were  to  be 
relied  on,  by  his  exact  observance  of  those  he  had  already  had  with 
his  present  allies."  Quoted,  as  "a  sentence  which  I  much  liked," 
by  Franklin,  writing  to  John  Adams,  April  13,  1782. 


ROCHAMBEAU  IN  AMERICA  183 

nation  being  in  accord,  and  the  people  illuminating 
for  joy. 

The  cause  was  a  just  one;  even  the  adversary, 
many  among  whom  had  been  from  the  first  of 
that  opinion,  was  not  long  to  acknowledge  it. 
Little  by  little,  and  in  spite  of  some  fitful  re- 
awakening of  former  animosities,  as  was  seen  in 
the  second  War  of  Independence,  hostile  disposi- 
tions vanished.  The  three  nations  who  had  met 
in  arms  in  Yorktown,  the  three  whose  ancestors 
had  known  a  Hundred  Years'  War,  have  now 
known  a  hundred  years'  peace.  "I  wish  to  see 
all  the  world  at  peace,"  Washington  had  written 
to  Rochambeau.  For  over  a  century  now  the 
three  nations  which  fought  at  Yorktown  have 
become  friends,  and  in  this  measure  at  least  the 
wish  of  the  great  American  has  been  fulfilled. 


II 


MAJOR  L'ENFANT  AND  THE 
FEDERAL  CITY 


MAJOR  L'ENFANT  AND  THE 
FEDERAL  CITY 


EETLE  more  than  a  century  ago  the  hill 
on  which  rises  the  Capitol  of  the  federal 
city  and  the  ground  around  it  were  cov- 
ered with  woods  and  underbrush ;  a  few  scattered 
farms  had  been  built  here  and  there,  with  one  or 
two  exceptions  mere  wooden  structures  whose 
low  roofs  scarcely  emerged  from  their  leafy  sur- 
roundings. Not  very  long  before,  Indians  had 
used  to  gather  on  that  eminence  and  hold  their 
council-fires. 

As  far  now  as  the  eye  can  reach  the  picturesque 
outline  of  one  of  the  firlest  cities  that  exist  is  dis- 
covered; steeples  and  pinnacles  rise  above  the 
verdure  of  the  trees  lining  the  avenues  within 
the  unaltered  frame  supplied  by  the  blue  hills  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia. 

The  will  of  Congress,  the  choice  made  by  the 
great  man  whose  name  the  city  was  to  bear,  the 
talents  of  a  French  officer,  caused  this  change. 

Debates  and  competitions  had  been  very  keen; 
more  than  one  city  of  the  North  and  of  the  South 
had  put  forth  pleas  to  be  the  one  selected  and 

137 


138      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

become  the  capital:  Boston,  where  the  first  shot 
had  been  fired;  Philadelphia,  where  independence 
had  been  proclaimed;  Yorktown,  where  it  had 
been  won — Yorktown,  modest  as  a  city,  but  glori- 
ous by  the  events  its  name  recalled,  now  an  out- 
of-the-way  borough,  rarely  visited,  and  where 
fifty  white  inhabitants  are  all  that  people  the 
would-be  capital  of  the  new-born  Union.  New 
York  also  had  been  in  the  ranks,  as  well  as  King- 
ston, Newport,  Wilmington,  Trenton,  Reading, 
Lancaster,  Annapolis,  Williamsburg,  and  several 
others.  Passions  were  stirred  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  worst  was  feared,  and  that,  incredible  as 
it  may  now  seem,  Jefferson  could  speak  of  the 
"necessity  of  a  compromise  to  save  the  Union." 

A  compromise  was,  in  fact,  resorted  to,  which 
consisted  in  choosing  no  city  already  in  existence, 
but  building  a  new  one  on  purpose.  This  solu- 
tion had  been  early  thought  of,  for  Washington 
had  written  on  October  12,  1783,  to  Chevalier  de 
Chastellux:  "They  (Congress)  have  lately  deter- 
mined to  make  choice  of  some  convenient  spot 
near  the  Falls  of  the  Delaware  for  the  permanent 
residence  of  the  sovereign  power  of  these  United 
States."  But  would-be  capitals  still  persisted  in 
hoping  they  might  be  selected. 

Congress  made  up  its  mind  for  good  on  the  i6th 
of  July,  1790,  and  decided  that  the  President 
should  be  intrusted  with  the  care  of  choosing  "on 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      139 

the  river  Potomac"  a  territory,  ten  miles  square, 
which  should  become  the  ' '  Federal  territory ' '  and 
the  permanent  seat  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

Washington  thereupon  quickly  reached  a  de- 
cision; a  great  rider  all  his  life,  the  hills  and  vales 
of  the  region  were  familiar  to  him;  it  soon  be- 
came certain  that  the  federal  city  would  rise  one 
day  where  it  now  stands.  The  spot  seemed  to 
him  a  particularly  appropriate  one  for  a  reason 
which  has  long  ceased  to  be  so  very  telling,  and 
which  he  constantly  mentions  in  his  letters  as 
the  place's  "centrality." 

But  what  sort  of  a  city  should  it  be  ?  A  resi- 
dential one  for  statesmen,  legislators,  and  judges, 
or  a  commercial  one  with  the  possibilities,  con- 
sidered then  of  the  first  order,  afforded  by  the 
river,  or  a  mixture  of  both  ?  Should  it  be  planned 
in  view  of  the  present  or  of  the  future,  and  of 
what  sort  of  future  ? 

With  the  mind  of  an  artist  and  in  some  sense  of 
a  prophet,  perceiving  future  time  as  clearly  as  if 
it  were  the  present,  a  man  foresaw,  over  a  cen- 
tury ago,  what  we  now  see  with  our  eyes.  He 
was  a  French  officer  who  had  fought  for  the  cause 
of  independence,  and  had  remained  in  America 
after  the  war,  Major  Pierre  Charles  L'Enfant. 

Some  researches  in  French  and  American 
archives  have  allowed  me  to  trace  his  ancestry, 


140      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

and  to  add  a  few  particulars  to  what  was  already 
known  of  him. 

Born  at  Paris,  on  August  2,  1754,  he  was  the 
son  of  Pierre  L'Enfant,  "Painter  in  ordinary  to 
the  King  in  his  Manufacture  of  the  Gobelins." 
The  painter,  whose  wife  was  Marie  Charlotte  Leul- 
lier,  had  for  his  specialty  landscapes  and  battle- 
scenes.  Born  at  Anet,  in  1704,  on  a  farm  which 
he  bequeathed  to  his  children,  he  was  a  pupil  of 
Parrocel  and  had  been  elected  an  Academician  in 
1745.  Some  of  his  pictures  are  at  Tours;  six  are 
at  Versailles,  representing  as  many  French  vic- 
tories: the  taking  of  Menin,  1744;  of  Fribourg, 
1744;  of  Tournay,  1745;  the  battle  of  Fontenoy, 
1745  (a  favorite  subject,  several  times  painted  by 
him);  the  battle  of  Laufeldt,  1747,  where  that 
young  officer,  destined  to  be  Washington's  partner 
in  the  Yorktown  campaign,  Count  Rochambeau, 
received,  as  we  have  seen  before,  his  first  wounds. 
The  painter  died  a  very  old  man,  in  the  Royal 
Manufacture,  1787. 

Young  L'Enfant  grew  up  among  artistic  sur- 
roundings, and,  as  subsequent  events  showed,  re- 
ceived instruction  as  an  architect  and  engineer. 
The  cause  of  the  United  States  had  in  him  one 
of  its  earliest  enthusiasts.  In  1777,  being  then 
twenty- three,  possessed  of  a  commission  of  lieu- 
tenant in  the  French  colonial  troops,  he  sailed 
for  America  on  one  of  those  ships  belonging  to 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      141 

Beaumarchais's  mythical  firm  of  "Hortalez  and 
Co.,"  a  firm  whose  cargoes  consisted  in  soldiers 
and  ammunition  for  the  insurgents,  and  which 
was  as  much  a  product  of  the  dramatist's  brain 
as  Figaro  himself.  Figaro,  it  is  averred,  has  had 
a  great  influence  in  this  world;  Hortalez  and  Co. 
had  not  a  small  one,  either.  The  ship  had  been 
named  after  the  secretary  of  state,  who  was  to 
sign,  the  following  year,  the  United  States'  only 
alliance,  Le  Comte  de  Vergennes,  a  name,  wrote 
Beaumarchais,  "fit  to  bring  luck  to  the  cargo, 
which  is  superb."  The  superb  cargo  consisted, 
as  usual,  in  guns  and  war  supplies,  also  in  men 
who  might  be  of  no  less  use  for  the  particular 
sort  of  trade  Hortalez  and  Co.  were  conducting. 
"Some  good  engineers  and  some  cavalry  officers 
will  soon  arrive,"  Silas  Deane  was  then  writing 
to  Congress.  One  of  the  engineers  was  Pierre 
Charles  L'Enfant.  His  coming  had  preceded  by 
one  month  the  sailing  of  another  ship  with  an- 
other appropriate  name,  the  ship  La  Victoire, 
which  brought  Lafayette. 

L'Enfant  served  first  as  a  volunteer  and  at  his 
own  expense.  "In  February,  1778,"  we  read  in 
an  unpublished  letter  of  his  to  Washington,  "I  was 
honored  with  a  commission  of  captain  of  en- 
gineers, and  by  leave  of  Congress  attached  to  the 
Inspector-general.  .  .  .  Seeing  [after  the  winter 
of  1778-9]  no  appearance  of  an  active  campaign 


142      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

to  the  northward,  my  whole  ambition  was  to  at- 
tend the  Southern  army,  where  it  was  likely  the 
seat  of  war  would  be  transferred."  He  was,  ac- 
cordingly, sent  to  Charleston,  and  obtained  ' '  leave 
to  join  the  light  infantry,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Laurens;  his  friendship  furnished  me,"  he  relates, 
"with  many  opportunities  of  seeing  the  enemy  to 
advantage."1 

Not  "to  advantage,"  however,  did  he  fight  at 
Savannah,  when  the  French  and  Americans,  un- 
der d'Estaing  and  Lincoln,  were  repulsed  with  ter- 
rible loss.  The  young  captain  was  leading  one  of 
the  vanguard  columns  in  the  American  contin- 
gent and,  like  d'Estaing  himself,  was  grievously 
wounded.  He  managed  to  escape  to  Charleston. 
I  was,  he  said,  "in  my  bed  till  January,  1780. 
My  weak  state  of  health  did  not  permit  me  to 
work  at  the  fortifications  of  Charleston,  and  when 
the  enemy  debarked,  I  was  still  obliged  to  use  a 
crutch."2  He  took  part,  however,  in  the  fight, 
replacing  a  wounded  major,  and  was  made  a 
prisoner  at  the  capitulation.  Rochambeau  ne- 
gotiated his  exchange  in  January,  1782,  for  Cap- 
tain von  Heyden,  a  Hessian  officer. 

"Your  zeal  and  active  services,"  Washington 
wrote  back  to  L'Enfant,  "are  such  as  reflect  the 

Philadelphia,  February  18,  1782.     Washington  papers,  Library 
of  Congress. 
2  Same  letter. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      143 

highest  honor  on  yourself  and  are  extremely 
pleasing  to  me,  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  will 
have  their  due  weight  with  Congress  in  any 
future  promotion  in  your  corps."  1  They  had, 
in  fact,  in  the  following  year,  when,  by  a  vote  of 
the  assembly,  L'Enfant  was  promoted  a  major 
of  engineers,  1783. 

His  knowledge  of  the  art  of  fortification,  his 
merit  as  a  disciplinarian,  the  part  he  had  taken,  as 
he  recalls  in  a  letter  to  Count  de  La  Luzerne,2  in 
devising  the  earliest  "system  of  discipline  and 
exercises  which  was  finally  adopted  in  the  Ameri- 
can army"  (all  that  was  done  in  that  line  was  not 
by  Steuben  alone),  rendered  his  services  quite 
useful.  His  gifts  as  an  artist,  his  cleverness  at 
catching  likenesses  made  him  welcome  among 
his  brother  officers.  He  would  in  the  dreary  days 
of  Valley  Forge  draw  pencil  portraits  of  them, 
one,  we  know,  of  Washington,  at  the  request  of 
Lafayette,  who  wanted  also  to  have  a  painted 
portrait.  "I  misunderstood  you,"  the  general 
wrote  him  from  Fredericksburg,  on  September  25, 
1778;  "else  I  would  have  had  the  picture  made 
by  Peale  when  he  was  at  Valley  Forge.  When 
you  requested  me  to  sit  to  Monsieur  Lanfang" — 
thus  spelled,  showing  how  pronounced  by  Wash- 

1  March  i,  1782.     Washington  papers. 

2  Brother  of  the  minister  to  the  United  States,  New  York,  Decem- 
ber 10,   1787;    unpublished.     Archives  of  the  French  Ministry  of 
Colonies. 


144      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

ington — "I  thought  it  was  only  to  obtain  the 
outlines  and  a  few  shades  of  my  features,  to  have 
some  prints  struck  from." 

Some  such  pencil  portraits  by  L'Enfant  subsist, 
for  example  in  the  Glover  family  at  Washington, 
and  are  creditable  and  obviously  true-to-nature 
sketches. 

Whenever,  during  the  war  or  after,  something 
in  any  way  connected  with  art  was  wanted,  L'En- 
fant was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  appealed  to, 
whether  the  question  was  of  a  portrait,  of  a  ban- 
queting hall,  of  a  marble  palace,  a  jewel,  a  solemn 
procession,  a  fortress  to  be  raised,  or  a  city  to  be 
planned.  A  man  of  many  accomplishments,  with 
an  overflow  of  ideas  and  few  competitors,  he  was 
the  factotum  of  the  new  nation.  When  the 
French  minister,  La  Luzerne,  desired  to  arrange 
a  grand  banquet  in  honor  of  the  birth  of  the 
Dauphin  (the  first  one,  who  lived  only  eight 
years),  he  had  a  hall  built  on  purpose,  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  L'Enfant  was  the  designer.  Baron 
de  Closen,  Rochambeau's  aide,  writes  as  to  this 
in  his  journal:  "M.  de  La  Luzerne  offered  a  din- 
ner that  day  to  the  legion  of  Lauzun,  which  had 
arrived  the  same  morning  (August  2,  1782).  The 
hall  which  he  caused  to  be  built  on  purpose  for 
the  fete  he  gave  on  the  occasion  of  the  birth 
of  the  Dauphin,  is  very  large  and  as  beautiful  as 
it  can  be.  One  cannot  imagine  a  building  in 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      145 

better  taste;  simplicity  is  there  united  with  an 
air  of  dignity.  It  has  been  erected  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  de  L'Enfant,  a  French  officer,  in 
the  service  of  the  American  corps  of  engineers." 
Closen  adds  that  "Mr.  Barbe  de  Marbois,1  coun- 
selor of  embassy  of  our  court,  is  too  modest  to 
admit  that  his  advice  had  something  to  do  with 
the  result." 

When  peace  came,  those  officers  who  had  fought 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  Americans  re- 
turned home,  bringing  to  the  old  continent  new 
and  fruitful  ideas,  those  especially  pertaining  to 
equality  and  to  the  unreasonableness  of  class  dis- 
tinctions. Liberty  had  been  learned  from  Eng- 
land; equality  was  from  America. 

L'Enfant  was  one  of  those  who  went  back  to 
France,  but  he  did  not  stay.  He  had  been  away 
five  years  and  wanted  to  see  his  old  father,  the 
painter,  whose  end  now  was  near.  A  royal  brevet 
of  June  13,  1783,  had  conferred  on  the  officer  a 
small  French  pension  of  three  hundred  livres,  "in 
consideration  of  the  usefulness  of  his  services,  and 
of  the  wounds  received  by  him  during  the  Ameri- 
can war."  2  He  sailed  for  France  late  in  the  same 
year,  reaching  Havre  on  the  8th  of  December. 

The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  had  been  founded 
in  May.  For  the  insignia  appeal  had  been  made 

1  Mentioned  before,  p.  21. 

2  Brevet  14,302.    Archives  of  the  Ministry  of  War,  Paris. 


146      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

as  usual  to  the  artist  of  the  army,1  L' Enfant,  who 
was,  moreover,  commissioned  by  Washington, 
first  president  of  the  association,  to  avail  himself 
of  his  journey  to  order  from  some  good  Paris 
jeweller  the  eagles  to  be  worn  by  the  members, 
L'Enfant  himself  being  one.  He  was  also  to 
help  in  organizing  the  French  branch  of  the  so- 
ciety. Difficulties  had  first  been  encountered, 
for  the  reason  that  no  foreign  order  was  then 
allowed  in  France,  but  it  was  recognized  that  this 
could  scarcely  be  considered  a  foreign  one.  In  an 
unpublished  letter  to  Rochambeau,  Marshal  de 
Segur,  minister  of  war,  said:  "His  Majesty  the 
King  asks  me  to  inform  you  that  he  allows  you 
to  accept  this  honorable  invitation  (to  be  a  mem- 
ber). He  even  wants  you  to  assure  General 
Washington,  in  his  behalf,  that  he  will  always 
see  with  extreme  satisfaction  all  that  may  lead 
to  a  maintenance  and  strengthening  of  the  ties 
formed  between  France  and  the  United  States. 
The  successes  and  the  glory  which  have  been  the 
result  and  fruit  of  this  union  have  shown  how 

1  Steuben  writes  him  from  West  Point  on  July  i,  1783,  sending  him 
"a  resolution  of  the  convention  of  the  Cincinnati  of  June  19,  1783, 
by  which  I  am  requested,"  he  says,  "to  transmit  their  thanks  to 
you  for  your  care  and  ingenuity  in  preparing  the  designs  which  were 
laid  before  them  by  the  president  on  that  day."  Original  in  the 
L'Enfant  papers,  in  the  possession  of  Doctor  James  Dudley  Morgan, 
of  Washington,  a  descendant  of  the  Digges  family,  the  last  friends  of 
L'Enfant.  To  him  my  thanks  are  due  for  having  allowed  me  to  use 
those  valuable  documents. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      147 

advantageous  it  is,  and  that  it  should  be  perpetu- 
ated." Concerning  the  institution  itself  the  min- 
ister wrote:  "It  is  equally  honorable  because  of 
the  spirit  which  has  inspired  its  creation  and  of 
the  virtues  and  talents  of  the  celebrated  general 
whom  it  has  chosen  as  its  president."1 

L'Enfant  sent  to  Washington  glowing  accounts 
of  the  way  the  idea  had  been  welcomed  in  France, 
and  told  him  of  the  first  meetings  held,  one  at  the 
house  of  Rochambeau,  Rue  du  Cherche-Midi,  for 
officers  in  the  French  service,  and  another  at  the 
house  of  Lafayette,  Rue  de  Bourbon,  for  French 
officers  who  held  their  commissions  from  Congress, 
both  groups  deciding  thereupon  to  unite,  under 
Admiral  d'Estaing  as  president-general.2 

What  proved  for  L'Enfant,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, one  of  his  chief  qualities,  as  well  as 
one  of  his  chief  defects,  was  that,  whatever  the 
occasion,  he  ever  saw  "en  grand."  It  had  been 
understood  that  he  would  pay  the  expenses  of 
his  journey,  and  that  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati 
would  only  take  charge  of  those  resulting  from 
the  making  of  the  eagles.  His  own  modest  re- 
sources had  been,  as  Duportail  testified,  freely 
spent  by  him  during  the  war  for  the  good  of  the 
cause,  and  little  enough  was  left  him.  Never- 

1  December  18, 1783.     Rochambeau  papers. 

2  Asa  Bird  Gardner,  The  Order  of  the  Cincinnati  in  France,  1905, 
pp.  9  ff. 


148      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

theless,  did  he  write  to  Alexander  Hamilton, 
"being  arrived  in  France,  everything  there  con- 
curred to  strengthen  the  sentiment  which  had 
made  me  undertake  that  voyage,  and  the  recep- 
tion which  the  Cincinnati  met  with  soon  induced 
me  to  appear  in  that  country  in  a  manner  con- 
sistent with  the  dignity  of  the  society  of  which  I 
was  regarded  as  the  representative."  He  spent 
without  counting:  "My  abode  at  the  court  pro- 
duced expenses  far  beyond  the  sums  I  had  at 
first  thought  of."  He  ordered  the  eagles  from  the 
best  "artists,  who  rivalled  each  other  for  the  honor 
of  working  for  the  society,"1  but  wanted,  however, 
to  be  paid;  and  a  letter  to  Rochambeau,  written 
later,  shows  him  grappling  with  the  problem  of 
satisfying  Duval  and  Francastel  of  Paris,  who  had 
supplied  the  eagles  on  credit,  and  to  whom  the 
large  sum  of  twenty-two  thousand  three  hundred 
and  three  livres  were  still  due.  These  money 
troubles  caused  L'Enfant  to  shorten  his  stay  in 
France;  he  was  back  in  New  York  on  the  2gth 
of  April,  1784,  and  after  some  discussion  and  de- 
lay, the  society  "Resolved,  that,  in  consideration 
of  services  rendered  by  Major  L'Enfant,  the  gen- 
eral meeting  make  arrangements  for  advancing 
him  the  sum  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
forty-eight  dollars,  being  the  amount  of  the  loss 

1  An  undated  memoir  (May,  1787?),  in  the  Hamilton  papers, 
Library  of  Congress. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      149 

incurred  by  him  in  the  negotiation  for  a  number 
of  eagles,  or  orders,  of  the  Cincinnati."  * 

1  Text  annexed  to  L'Enf ant's  letter  to  Rochambeau,  June  15, 1786. 
(Rochambeau  papers.)  On  August  i,  1787,  however,  Francastel  was 
still  unpaid,  for  at  that  date  one  of  L'Enfant's  friends,  Duplessis, 
i.  e.,  the  Chevalier  de  Mauduit  du  Plessis,  who,  like  himself,  had 
served  as  a  volunteer  in  the  American  army,  writes  him:  "J'ai  vu 
ici  M.  Francastel  le  bijoutier  qui  vous  a  fait  une  fourniture  con- 
siderable de  medailles  de  Cincinnatus  et  qui  m'a  dit  que  vous  lui 
deviez  20,000  livres,  je  crois,  plus  ou  moins.  Je  Pai  fort  rassurS 
sur  votre  probite"."  (L'Enfant  papers.) 


II 

The  country  was  free;  war  was  over  now, 
people  felt;  for  ever,  many  fondly  hoped.  Set- 
tled in  New  York,  where  appeals  to  his  talents 
as  an  architect  and  engineer  made  him  prosperous 
for  a  time,  L'Enfant  believed  such  hopes  to  be 
vain,  and  that  the  country  should  at  once  make 
preparations  so  exhaustive  that  its  wealth  and  de- 
f enselessness  should  not  tempt  any  greedy  enemy. 
He  placed  the  problem  before  Congress,  in  a 
memoir  still  imprinted,  which  offers  particular  in- 
terest in  our  days,  when  the  same  problem  is  being 
again  discussed. 

"Sensible,"  wrote  L'Enfant,  in  the  creditable 
if  not  faultless  English  he  then  spoke,1  "of  the 
situation  of  affairs,  and  well  impregnated  with  the 
spirit  of  republican  government,  I  am  far  from 
intimating  the  idea  of  following  other  nations  in 
their  way  of  securing  themselves  against  insult  or 
invasions,  surrounded  as  they  are  with  powerful 
neighbors,  who,  being  the  objects  of  reciprocal 
jealousy,  are  forced  to  secure  not  only  their  fron- 

1  Only  his  orthography  is  corrected  in  the  quotations.  Orthog- 
raphy was  not  L'Enfant's  strong  point  in  any  language.  His  mis- 
takes are  even  worse  in  French  than  in  English,  the  reason  being, 
probably,  that  he  took  even  less  pains. 

150 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      151 

tier,  but  even  their  inland  towns  with  fortifica- 
tions, the  much  happier  situation  of  the  United 
States  rendering  those  measures  of  little  or  no 
necessity." 

The  States  must  act  differently;  but  not  to 
act  at  all  would  be  folly.  "How  and  upon  what 
foundations  could  it  be  supposed  that  America 
will  have  nothing  to  fear  from  a  rupture  between 
any  of  the  European  Powers  ?  .  .  .  A  neutral 
Power,  it  will  be  said,  receives  the  benefit  of  a 
universal  trade,  has  his  possessions  respected,  as 
well  as  his  colors,  by  all  the  Powers  at  war.  This 
may  be  said  of  a  powerful  nation,  but  this  America 
is  not  to  expect;  a  neutral  Power  must  be  ready 
for  war,  and  his  trade  depends  on  the  means  of 
protecting  and  making  his  colors  respected. 
America,  neutral  without  [a]  navy,  without  troops 
or  fortified  harbors  could  have  nothing  but  ca- 
lamity to  expect."  She  cannot  live  free  and  de- 
velop in  safety  without  "power  to  resent,  ability 
to  protect." 

A  noteworthy  statement,  to  be  sure,  and  which 
deserves  to  be  remembered.  L'Enfant  draws, 
thereupon,  a  plan  of  defense,  especially  insisting, 
of  course,  on  the  importance  of  his  own  particular 
branch,  namely  engineering.1 

1  Unpublished,  n.  d.,  but  probably  of  1784.  (Papers  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress — Letters,  vol.  LXXVIII,  p.  583,  Library  of  Con- 
gress.) His  ambition  would  have  been  to  be  asked  to  realize  his 
own  plan,  "as  Brigadier-General  Kosciusko,  at  leaving  this  conti- 


152      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

Houdon's  brief  visit,  shortly  after,  in  order  to 
make  Washington's  statue  for  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia,1 must  have  been  particularly  pleasant  to 
the  major,  to  whom  the  great  sculptor  could  bring 
news  of  his  co- Academician,  the  old  painter  of  the 
Gobelins  Manufacture,  father  of  the  officer. 

An  imprinted  letter  of  L'Enfant  to  the  secre- 
tary of  Congress,  sitting  then  in  New  York,  gives 
a  number  of  details  on  Houdon's  stay  in  America. 
The  Federal  Congress  had  thought  of  ordering, 
in  its  turn,  a  statue  of  Washington,  which  would 
have  been  an  equestrian  one ;  but  what  would  the 
cost  be  ?  A  most  important  question  in  those 
days.  On  behalf  of  Houdon,  who  knew  no  Eng- 
lish, L'Enfant  wrote  to  Charles  Thomson  that 
Mr.  Houdon  could  not  "properly  hazard  to  give 
him  any  answer  relating  [to]  the  cost  of  the 
general's  equestrian  statue";  there  are  a  great 
many  ways  of  making  such  work,  and  Congress 
must  say  which  it  prefers.  A  book  belonging  to 
Mr.  Houdon  will  shortly  reach  these  shores,  where 
particulars  as  to  the  "performance  of  the  several 
statues  which  have  been  created  in  Europe  are 
mentioned,  together  with  their  cost."  The  book 
is  on  a  vessel,  soon  expected,  and  which  brings 
back  Doctor  Franklin's  "bagage." 

nent,  gave  me  the  flattering  expectation  of  being  at  the  head  of 
[such]  a  department." 
1  On  this  visit,  see  below,  p.  225. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      153 

Congress  had  thought  also  of  a  marble  bust  for 
the  hall  where  it  sat.  Houdon  was  taking  home 
with  him  a  finished  model  of  the  head  of  the  great 
man,  and  had  exhibited  it,  for  every  one  to  say 
his  say,  in  the  "room  of  Congress." 

Such  busts,  L'Enfant  wrote,  are  "generally  paid 
in  Europe  five  thousand  French  livres";  but  as 
many  duplicates  will  probably  be  ordered  from 
him,  Houdon  will  lower  the  price  to  one  hundred 
guineas.  "He  begs  leave,  however,  to  observe 
that  a  bust  of  the  size  of  nature  only  may  be  fit 
for  a  private  and  small  room,  but  not  for  such  a 
large  one  as  that  devoted  for  the  assembly  of  a 
Congress,  where  it  should  be  necessary  to  have 
a  bust  of  a  larger  size  to  have  it  appear  to  ad- 
vantage." 

The  price  had  been  asked,  too,  of  duplicates  in 
plaster  of  Paris,  for  private  citizens.  The  answer 
was:  four  guineas,  also  in  the  thought  that  a 
goodly  number  would  be  wanted,  "provided  that 
there  be  a  subscription  for  a  large  number,  and 
that  the  gentlemen  who  will  have  any  of  these 
busts  in  their  possession  consider  themselves  as 
engaged  to  prevent  any  copy  from  being  taken; 
this  last  condition  he  humbly  insists  upon." 

As  for  the  original,  Houdon  is  anxious  to  know 
what  the  compatriots  of  the  general  think  of  it; 
any  criticism  would  be  welcome:  "Mr.  Houdon 
hopes  that  Congress  is  satisfied  with  the  bust  he 


154      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

has  had  the  honor  to  submit  to  their  examination, 
begs  the  gentlemen  who  may  have  some  objections 
to  communicate  them  to  him,  and  he  flatters  him- 
self that  Congress  will  favor  him  with  their  opin- 
ion in  writing,  which  he  will  consider  as  a  proof 
of  their  satisfaction  and  keep  as  a  testimony  of 
their  goodness." 

He  is  just  about  to  sail,  and  the  bust  has  to  be 
removed  at  once :  ' '  Mr.  Houdon,  being  to  embark 
to-morrow  morning,  begs  leave  to  take  out  the 
general's  bust  from  the  room  of  Congress  this 
afternoon."1 

L'Enfant's  chief  work  in  New  York  consisted 
in  the  remodelling  of  the  old,  or  rather  older  (but 
not  oldest),  City  Hall,  the  one  which  preceded  that 
now  known,  in  its  turn,  as  the  old  one.  The 
undertaking  was  of  importance,  the  question  being 
of  better  accommodating  Congress,  which  had 
left  Philadelphia  with  a  grudge  toward  that  city, 
and  was  now  sitting  in  New  York.  A  large  sum, 
for  those  days,  had  been  advanced  by  patriotic 
citizens,  which  sum,  however,  L'Enfant's  habit 
to  see  things  "en  grand"  caused  to  be  insufficient 
by  more  than  half.  The  city  hoped  that  the  de- 
vising of  such  a  structure  would  be  for  it  one  more 
title  to  be  selected  as  the  federal  capital,  and  it 
therefore  did  not  protest,  but  on  the  contrary 

1  New  York,  3d  November,  1785.  Papers  of  the  Continental 
Congress— Letters,  1.  78,  vol.  XIV,  p.  677. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      155 

caused  a  "testimonial"  to  be  officially  presented 
to  L'Enfant,  highly  praising  his  work:  "While 
the  hall  exists  it  will  exhibit  a  most  respectable 
monument  of  your  eminent  talents,  as  well  as  of 
the  munificence  of  the  citizens."1  L'Enfant  re- 
ceived "the  freedom  of  the  city"  by  "special 
honorifick  patent,"  as  he  wrote  later,  and  he  was, 
moreover,  offered  ten  acres  of  land  near  Provost 
Lane,  "which  latter  he  politely  declined."2 

The  building  won  general  admiration  for  its 
noble  appearance,  the  tasteful  brilliancy  of  its 
ornamentation,  and  its  commodious  internal  ar- 
rangements. The  only  objections  came  from  the 
Anti-Federalists,  who  called  it  the  "Fools'  Trap," 
in  which  appellation  politics  had,  obviously,  more 
to  do  than  architecture. 

L'Enfant,  a  man  of  ideas,  had  tried  to  make  of 
the  renovated  hall  something  characteristically 
American,  if  not  in  the  general  style,  which  was 
classical,  at  least  in  many  details.  National  re- 
sources had  been  turned  into  use;  in  the  Senate 
chamber  the  chimneys  were  of  American  marble, 
which,  "for  beauties  of  shade  and  polish,  is  equal  to 
any  of  its  kind  in  Europe."3  The  capitals  of  the 
pilasters  were  "  of  a  fanciful  kind,  the  invention  of 
Major  L'Enfant,  the  architect.  .  .  .  Amidst  their 

October  13,  1789. 

1  Taggart,  Records  of  the  Columbia  Historical  Society,  XI,  215. 
*  Thomas  E.  V.  Smith,  The  City  of  New  York  in  i78g,  p.  46,  quoting 
contemporary  magazines. 


156      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

foliage  appears  a  star  and  rays,  and  a  piece  of 
drapery  below  suspends  a  small  medallion  with 
U.  S.  in  a  cipher.  The  idea  is  new  and  the  effect 
pleasing;  and  although  they  cannot  be  said  to  be  of 
any  ancient  order,  we  must  allow  that  they  have 
an  appearance  of  magnificence."  1  The  frieze  out- 
side was  so  divided  as  to  give  room  for  thirteen 
stars  in  so  many  metopes.  A  much-talked-of 
eagle,  with  thirteen  arrows  in  its  talons,  which, 
unluckily,  could  not  be  ready  for  March  4,  1789, 
when  Congress  met  in  the  hall  for  the  first  time 
under  the  newly  voted  Constitution,  was  the  chief 
ornament  on  the  pediment.  On  the  226.  of  April 
the  news  could  be  sent  to  the  Salem  Mercury: 
"The  eagle  in  front  of  the  Federal  State-House 
is  displayed.  The  general  appearance  of  this 
front  is  truly  august."2  The  emblem  was  thus 
at  its  proper  place  when  the  chief  event  that 
Federal  Hall,  as  it  was  then  called,  was  to  witness 
occurred,  on  the  3oth  of  the  same  month,  the  day 
of  the  first  inauguration  of  the  first  President  of 
the  United  States. 

Crowds  came  to  visit  what  was  then  the  most 
beautiful  building  in  the  country;  but  better  than 
crowds  came,  and  one  visit  was  for  the  major 
more  touching  and  flattering  than  all  the  others 


2  C.  M.  Bowen,  The  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Inauguration  of 
George  Washington,  1892,  pp.  15,  16. 


I/ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      157 

put  together — the  wife  of  his  general,  now  the 
President,  Mrs.  Washington,  caused  Colonel  Hum- 
phreys and  Mr.  Lear  to  make  arrangements  with 
L'Enfant  for  her  to  inspect  the  hall,  in  June  of  the 
inauguration  year.1 

The  expensive  and  greatly  admired  monument 
was  to  experience  the  strange  fate  of  being  sur- 
vived by  its  author.  Becoming  again  City  Hall 
when  Congress,  soon  after,  left  New  York  to  go 
back,  reconciled,  to  Philadelphia,  it  was  pulled 
down  in  1812,  the  building  itself  being  sold  at 
auction  for  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars: 
and  thus  disappeared,  to  the  regret  of  all  lovers 
of  ancient  souvenirs,  the  beautiful  chimneys  in 
American  marble,  the  "truly  august"  eagle  with 
its  thirteen  arrows,  and  the  first  really  American 
capitals  ever  devised,  and  which,  though  in  a  new 
style,  were  yet  " magnificent." 

One  solitary  souvenir  of  the  building  remains, 
however,  that  is,  the  middle  part  of  the  railing  on 
which  Washington  must  have  leaned  when  taking 
the  oath;  a  piece  of  wrought  iron  of  a  fine  orna- 
mental style,  now  preserved  with  so  many  other 
interesting  relics  of  old  New  York  on  the  ground 
floor  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society's  Mu- 
seum. In  the  same  room  can  be  seen  several 

1  "Mr.  Lear  does  himself  the  honor  to  inform  Major  L'Enfant  that 
Mrs.  Washington  intends  to  visit  the  federal  building  at  six  o'clock 
this  evening. — Saturday  morning,  i3th  June,  1789."  (L'Enfant 
papers.) 


158      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

contemporary  views  of  Federal  Hall,  one  in  water- 
color,  by  Robertson,  1798;  another,  an  engrav- 
ing, showing  every  detail  of  the  facade,  represents, 
as  the  inscription  runs,  "Federal  Hall,  the  Seat 
of  Congress. — Printed  and  sold  by  A.  Doolittle, 
New  Haven,  1790. — A.  Doolittle  Sc.  Pet.  Lacour 
del." 

Shortly  before  the  inauguration  of  the  first 
President,  L'Enfant  had  had  to  lend  his  help  for 
the  devising  of  a  grand,  artistic,  historical,  and  es- 
pecially political  procession,  a  Federalist  one, 
arranged  in  the  hope  of  influencing  public  opinion 
and  securing  the  vote  of  the  Constitution  by  the 
State  of  New  York.  This  now  revered  text  was 
then  the  subject  of  ardent  criticism;  famous  pa- 
triots like  Patrick  Henry  had  detected  in  it  some- 
thing royalistic,  which  has  long  ceased  to  be  ap- 
parent, and  were  violent  in  their  denunciation 
of  this  instrument  of  tyranny.  New  York  was 
in  doubt ;  its  convention  had  met  at  Poughkeepsie 
in  June,  1788,  and  it  seemed  as  if  an  adverse  vote 
were  possible.  The  procession  was  then  thought  of. 

It  took  place  on  Monday,  the  23d  of  July,  and 
was  a  grand  affair,  with  artillery  salute,  trumpe- 
ters, foresters,  Christopher  Columbus  on  horse- 
back, farmers,  gardeners,  the  Society  of  the  Cincin- 
nati "in  full  military  uniform,"  brewers  showing 
in  their  ranks,  ' '  mounted  on  a  tun  of  ale,  a  beauti- 
ful boy  of  eight  years,  in  close-fitting,  flesh-colored 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      159 

silk,  representing  Bacchus,  with  a  silver  goblet  in 
his  hand,"  butchers,  tanners,  cordwainers  " sur- 
rounding the  car  of  the  Sons  of  Saint  Crispin," 
furriers  exhibiting  "an  Indian  in  native  costume, 
loaded  with  furs,  notwithstanding  it  was  one  of 
the  hottest  days  in  July." l 

The  chief  object  of  wonder  was  the  good 
ship  Hamilton,  presented  by  the  ship-carpenters, 
mounted  on  wheels,  a  perfect  frigate  of  thirty- 
two  guns,  with  its  crew,  complete,  firing  salutes 
on  its  way.  The  confectioners  surrounded  an 
immense  "Federal  cake."  The  judges  and  law- 
yers were  followed  by  "John  Lawrence,  John 
Cozine,  and  Robert  Troup,  bearing  the  new  Con- 
stitution elegantly  engrossed  on  vellum,  and  ten 
students  of  law  followed,  bearing  in  order  the  rati- 
fication of  the  ten  States."2  The  tin-plate  work- 
ers exhibited  "the  Federal  tin  warehouse,  raised 
on  ten  pillars,  with  the  motto: 

When  three  more  pillars  rise, 

Our  Union  will  the  world  surprise." 

— tin-plate  poetry,  for  the  tin  warehouse.  Then 
came  learned  men,  physicians,  clergymen,  the  re- 

1  Martha  J.  Lamb,  History  of  the  City  of  New  York,  1881,  vol.  II, 
pp.  321  ff. 

2  Ten  had  already  voted  the  Constitution,  which  made  its  enact- 
ment certain,  for  Congress  had  decided  that  an  adoption  by  nine 
States  would  be  enough  for  that.     As  is  well  known,  there  remained 
in  the  end  only  two  dissenting  States,  North  Carolina  and  Rhode 
Island. 


160      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

gent  and  students  of  Columbia  University,  schol- 
ars, and  among  them  Noah  Webster,  famous 
since  as  a  lexicographer,  and  then  as  a  professor 
and  journalist,  now  admired  by  everybody,  but, 
in  those  days  of  strife,  only  by  Federalists — "a 
mere  pedagogue,"  disdainfully  wrote  Jefferson 
later,  "of  very  limited  understanding  and  very 
strong  prejudices,"  in  saying  which  he  himself, 
maybe,  showed  some  prejudice,  too.1 

A  grand  banquet,  at  which,  according  to  the 
New  York  Journal  and  Weekly  Register,2  bullocks 
were  roasted  whole  for  the  "regale"  of  the  guests, 
was  held  at  the  extreme  point  reached  by  the  pro- 
cession, called  by  the  same  paper  the  "parade  des 
fetes  champetres."  The  President  and  members 
of  Congress  sat  under  a  dome  devised  by  L'En- 
fant.  It  was  "surmounted  by  a  figure  of  Fame, 
with  a  trumpet  proclaiming  a  new  era,  and  hold- 
ing a  scroll  emblematic  of  the  three  great  epochs 
of  the  war:  Independence — Alliance  with  France — 
Peace."3 

This  was  greatly  admired.  "The  committee," 
we  read  in  a  note  printed  by  their  order  in  the 
Imperial  Gazetteer,  "would  be  insensible  of  the 
zeal  and  merit  of  Major  L'Enfant  were  they  to 
omit  expressing  the  obligation  which  they  are 
under  to  him  for  the  elegance  of  the  design  and 

*To  James  Madison,  August  12,  1801. 

1  Number  of  July  24,  1788.  *  Martha  J.  Lamb,  ibid. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      161 

the  excellence  of  the  execution  of  the  pavilion  and 
tables."1 

The  whole  was  a  considerable  success.  "As  it 
redounds  much  to  the  credit  of  the  citizens,  ..." 
another  paper  observes,  "it  ought  to  be  remarked 
that  there  was  not  the  least  outrage,  or  even  in- 
decency, notwithstanding  6,000  or  7,000  people 
(as  supposed,  spectators  included)  had  collected, 
and  that  the  whole  company  was  dismissed  at 
half  after  five  o'clock."2 

Three  days  after  the  procession  the  vote  was 
taken  at  Poughkeepsie,  and  if  any  influence  at  all 
could  be  attributed  to  the  effect  on  public  opinion 
of  the  quasi-mediaeval  pageant,  its  organizers  must 
have  felt  proud,  for  in  an  assembly  of  fifty-seven 
the  Constitution  was  actually  voted  by  a  majority 
of  two. 

1  July  26,  1788.  2  New  York  Journal,  July  24. 


Ill 

The  same  year  in  which  the  New  York  Federal 
Hall  had  seen  the  inauguration  of  the  first  Presi- 
dent, the  chance  of  his  life  came  to  L'Enf ant.  He 
deserved  it,  because  he  not  only  availed  himself 
of  it,  but  went  forth  to  meet  it,  giving  up  his  abode 
in  New  York,  "where  I  stood  at  the  time,"  he 
wrote  later,  "able  of  commanding  whatever 
business  I  liked."  This  was  the  founding  of  the 
federal  city. 

The  impression  was  a  general  one  among  the 
French  that  those  insurgents  whom  they  had 
helped  to  become  a  free  nation  were  to  be  a  great 
one,  too.  Leaving  England,  where  he  was  a 
refugee  during  our  Revolution,  Talleyrand  de- 
cided to  come  to  the  United  States,  "desirous 
of  seeing,"  he  says  in  his  memoirs,  "that  great 
country  whose  history  begins."  General  Mo- 
reau,  also  a  refugee,  a  few  years  later  spoke  with 
the  same  confidence  of  the  future  of  the  country: 
"I  had  pictured  to  myself  the  advantages  of  liv- 
ing under  a  free  government ;  but  I  had  conceived 
only  in  part  what  such  happiness  is:  here  it  is 
enjoyed  to  the  full.  ...  It  is  impossible  for  men 
who  have  lived  under  such  a  government  to  allow 
themselves  ever  to  be  subjugated ;  they  would  be 

162 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      163 

very  great  cowards  if  they  did  not  perish  to  the 
last  in  order  to  defend  it."1 

L'Enf ant, .  with  his  tendency  to  see  things  "en 
grand,"  could  not  fail  to  act  accordingly,  and  the 
moment  he  heard  that  the  federal  city  would  be 
neither  New  York  nor  Philadelphia,  nor  any  other 
already  in  existence,  but  one  to  be  built  expressly, 
he  wrote  to  Washington  a  letter  remarkable  by 
his  clear  understanding  of  the  opportunity  offered 
to  the  country,  and  by  his  determined  purpose  to 
work  not  for  the  three  million  inhabitants  of  his 
day,  but  for  the  one  hundred  of  ours,  and  for  all 
the  unborn  millions  that  will  come  after  us. 

The  letter  is  dated  from  New  York,  nth  of 
September,  1789.  "Sir,"  he  said,  "the  late  deter- 
mination of  Congress  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a 
city  which  is  to  become  the  capital  of  this  vast 
empire  offers  so  great  an  occasion  of  acquiring 
reputation  to  whoever  may  be  appointed  to  con- 
duct the  execution  of  the  business  that  your 
Excellency  will  not  be  surprised  that  my  ambi- 
tion and  the  desire  I  have  of  becoming  a  useful 
citizen  should  lead  me  to  wish  a  share  in  the 
undertaking. 

"No  nation,  perhaps,  had  ever  before  the  op- 
portunity offered  them  of  deliberately  deciding 
on  the  spot  where  their  capital  city  should  be 

*To  his  brother,  Philadelphia,  November  17,  1806.  Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes,  November  15,  1908,  p.  421. 


164      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

fixed.  .  .  .  And,  although  the  means  now  within 
the  power  of  the  country  are  not  such  as  to  pur- 
sue the  design  to  any  great  extent,  it  will  be  ob- 
vious that  the  plan  should  be  drawn  on  such  a 
scale  as  to  leave  room  for  that  aggrandizement  and 
embellishment  which  the  increase  of  the  wealth 
of  the  nation  will  permit  it  to  pursue  at  any  period, 
however  remote.  Viewing  the  matter  in  this  light, 
I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  extent  of  the  under- 
taking."1 

Washington  knew  that  L'Enfant  was  afflicted, 
to  be  sure,  with  an  "untoward"  temper,  being 
haughty,  proud,  intractable,  but  that  he  was 
honest  withal,  sincere,  loyal,  full  of  ideas,  and  re- 
markably gifted.  He  decided  to  intrust  him  with 
the  great  task,  thus  justifying,  a  little  later,  his 
selection :  ' '  Since  my  first  knowledge  of  the  gentle- 
man's abilities  in  the  line  of  his  profession,  I  have 
received  him  not  only  as  a  scientific  man,  but  one 
who  has  added  considerable  taste  to  professional 
knowledge;  and  that,  for  such  employment  as  he 
is  now  engaged  in,  for  prosecuting  public  works 
and  carrying  them  into  effect,  he  was  better  quali- 
fied than  any  one  who  had  come  within  my  knowl- 
edge in  this  country."2  The  President  informed 
L'Enfant  that  he  was  to  set  to  work  at  once,  and 

1  Original  (several  times  printed  in  part)  in  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress, Miscellaneous — Personal.  The  rest  of  the  letter  treats  of  the 
necessity  of  fortifying  the  coasts. 

*To  David  Stuart,  November  20,  1791. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      165 

so  bestir  himself  as  to  have  at  least  a  general 
plan  to  show  a  few  months  later,  when  he  himself 
would  return  from  a  trip  South.  On  March  2, 
1791,  Washington  announced  to  Colonel  Dickens, 
of  Georgetown,  the  coming  of  the  major:  "An 
eminent  French  military  engineer  starts  for  George- 
town to  examine  and  survey  the  site  of  the  federal 
city."  A  few  days  later  the  arrival  of  "Major 
Longfont"  was  duly  recorded  by  the  Georgetown 
Weekly  Ledger.1 

L'Enfant's  enthusiasm  and  his  desire  to  do 
well  and  quickly  had  been  raised  to  a  high  pitch. 
He  reached  the  place  a  few  days  later  and  found  it 
wrapped  in  mist,  soaked  in  rain,  but  he  would 
not  wait.  ' '  I  see  no  other  way, ' '  he  wrote  to  Jeffer- 
son on  the  nth,  "if  by  Monday  next  the  weather 
does  not  change,  but  of  making  a  rough  draft  as 
accurate  as  may  be  obtained  by  viewing  the 
ground  in  riding  over  it  on  horseback,  as  I  have 
already  done  yesterday  through  the  rain,  to  ob- 
tain a  knowledge  of  the  whole.  ...  As  far  as 
I  was  able  to  judge  through  a  thick  fog,  I  passed 
on  many  spots  which  appeared  to  me  really  beau- 
tiful, and  which  seem  to  dispute  with  each  other 
[which]  commands."2 

When  he  could  see  the  place  to  better  advan- 
tage, his  admiration  knew  no  bounds.  In  an  un- 

1  W.  B.  Bryan's  History  of  the  National  Capital,  1914,  p.  127. 

2  Records  of  the  Columbia  Historical  Society,  II,  151. 


166      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

published  letter  to  Hamilton  he  says:  ''Now, 
when  you  may  probably  have  heard  that  I  am 
finally  charged  with  delineating  a  plan  for  the 
city,  I  feel  a  sort  of  embarrassment  how  to  speak 
to  you  as  advantageously  as  I  really  think  of  the 
situation  determined  upon;  for,  as  there  is  no 
doubt,  I  must  feel  highly  interested  in  the  suc- 
cess of  the  undertaking,  I  become  apprehensive 
of  being  charged  with  partiality  when  I  assure 
you  that  no  position  in  America  can  be  more 
susceptible  of  grand  improvement  than  that  be- 
tween the  eastern  branch  of  the  Potomac  and 
Georgetown."1 

A  few  weeks  later  L' Enfant  was  doing  the 
honors  of  the  spot  to  a  brother  artist,  the  painter 
Trumbull,  just  back  from  Yorktown,  where  he 
had  been  sketching  in  view  of  his  big  picture  of 
the  surrendering  of  Cornwallis,  and  who  wrote  in 
his  autobiography:  "Then  to  Georgetown,  where 
I  found  Major  L'Enfant  drawing  his  plan  of  the 
city  of  Washington;  rode  with  him  over  the 
ground  on  which  the  city  has  since  been  built. 
Where  the  Capitol  now  stands  was  then  a  thick 
wood."  (May,  1791.) 

Another  visitor  of  note  came  in  the  same  year, 
namely  the  French  minister,  a  former  companion 
in  arms  of  Lafayette  and  of  L'Enfant  himself, 
Ternant,  back  from  a  three  days'  stay  at  Mount 

1  April  8,  1791.     Hamilton  Papers,  vol.  XI,  Library  of  Congress. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      167 

Vernon,  and  who  gave  his  government  an  account 
of  what  he  had  observed:  "I  would  not  leave 
Georgetown  without  having  seen  the  ground  des- 
tined for  the  federal  city.  The  position  seemed 
to  me  a  most  interesting  one  from  every  point  of 
view.  The  French  engineer  who  has  already 
traced  the  streets,  is  busy  preparing  a  detailed 
plan.  .  .  .  The  President  shows  the  greatest  in- 
terest in  this  new  Salente,  which  is  to  bear  his 
name."  ' 

The  city,  L'Enfant  thought,  must  be  great, 
beautiful,  and  soon  peopled,  drawn  "on  that  grand 
scale  on  which  it  ought  to  be  planned";2  meant 
to  absorb  "Georgetown  itself,  whose  name  will 
before  long  be  suppressed,  and  its  whole  district 
become  a  part  of  the  cession." 3  It  must  be 
quickly  filled  with  inhabitants,  because  this  will 
strengthen  the  Union:  "I  earnestly  wish  all  that 
the  Eastern  States  can  spare  may  come  this  way, 
and  believe  it  would  answer  as  good  a  purpose 
as  that  of  their  emigration  to  the  West.  It  would 
deface  that  line  of  markation  which  will  ever 

September  30,  October  24,  1791.  Correspondence  of  the  French 
Ministers,  ed.  F.  J.  Turner,  1904,  p.  62.  "Salente,"  the  ideal  city, 
in  Fenelon's  TeUmaque.  During  the  War  of  Independence  Chevalier 
Jean  de  Ternant  had  served  as  a  volunteer  officer  in  the  American 
army.  He  was  at  Valley  Forge,  at  Charleston,  took  part  under 
Greene  in  the  Southern  campaign  and  was  promoted  a  colonel  by  a 
vote  of  Congress. 

2  To  Jefferson,  March  n,  1791. 

3  To  Hamilton,  April  8,  1791. 


168      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

oppose  the  South  against  the  East,  for  when  ob- 
jects are  seen  at  a  distance  the  idea  we  form  of 
them  is  apt  to  mislead  us  ...  and  we  fancy 
monstrous  that  object  which,  from  a  nearer  view, 
would  charm  us.  ...  Hence  arises  a  natural 
though  unwarrantable  prejudice  of  nations  against 
nations,  of  States  against  States,  and  so  down  to 
individuals,  who  often  mistrust  one  another  for 
want  of  being  sufficiently  acquainted  with  each 
other."  l 

The  city  must  be  beautiful,  due  advantage 
being  taken  of  the  hilly  nature  of  the  spot  for 
grand  or  lovely  prospects,  and  of  its  water  re- 
sources for  handsome  fountains  and  cascades: 
"five  grand  fountains  intended,  with  a  constant 
spout  of  water — a  grand  cascade"  at  the  foot  of 
Capitol  Hill,2  etc.,  a  part  of  the  plan  which  was, 
unluckily,  left  in  abeyance.  Some  had  spoken  of 
a  plain  rectangular  plan,  "a  regular  assemblage 
of  houses  laid  out  in  squares,  and  forming  streets 
all  parallel  and  uniform."  This  might  be  good 
enough,  L'Enfant  declared,  "on  a  well-level  plain, 
where,  no  surrounding  object  being  interesting, 
it  becomes  indifferent  which  way  the  opening 
street  may  be  directed."  But  the  case  is  quite 
different  with  the  future  federal  city:  "Such 

1  Same  letter  to  Hamilton. 

2  L'Enfant's  Observations  Explanatory  of  the  Plan,  inscribed  on  the 
plan  itself. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      169 

regular  plans,  however  answerable  they  may  ap- 
pear on  paper  .  .  .  become  at  last  tiresome  and 
insipid,  and  it  could  never  be,  in  its  origin,  but 
a  mean  continence  of  some  cool  imagination  want- 
ing a  sense  of  the  really  grand  and  truly  beauti- 
ful, only  to  be  met  with  where  nature  contributes 
with  art  and  diversifies  the  objects."1  We  may 
imagine  what  his  feelings  would  be  if  he  saw,  in 
our  days,  the  steam-shovel  busy  around  the  city, 
dumping  as  many  hills  as  possible  into  as  many 
vales,  and  securing  a  maximum  platitude. 

But  the  city  must  be  more  than  that;  besides 
being  beautiful,  healthy,  commodious,  it  should 
be  full  of  sentiment,  of  associations,  of  ideas; 
everything  in  it  must  be  evocative  and  have  a 
meaning  and  a  "raison  d'etre."  Rarely  was  a 
brain  more  busy  than  that  of  L'Enfant  during  the 
first  half  of  the  year  1791.  Surveying  the  ground, 
mapping  out  the  district,  sketching  the  chief 
buildings  of  the  model  city  that  was  to  be,2  he 
presented  three  reports  to  Washington,  the  first, 
giving  only  his  general  ideas,  before  the  end  of 

1  First  report  to  the  President,  March  26,  1791. 

2  For  he  was  depended  upon  for  that,  too:    "M.  L'Enfant,"  Ter- 
nant  wrote,  "aura  aussi  la  direction  des  batimens  que  le  Congr£s  se 
propose  d'y  faire  clever."    September  30,  1791.     See  also  the  docu- 
ments quoted  by  W.  B.  Bryan,  History  of  the  National  Capital,  1914, 
p.  165,  note.     L'Enfant  actually  made  drawings  for  the  Capitol,  the 
President's  house,  the  bridges,  the  market,  etc.,  which  he  complained 
later  the  commissioners  to  have  unjustly  appropriated.     Records  of 
the  Columbia  Historical  Society,  II,  140. 


170      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

March,  the  second  in  June,  the  last  in  August, 
the  two  latter  accompanied  with  plans,  the  last 
of  which  being  the  one  which  was  followed  in 
the  building  of  the  city. 

By  the  amplitude  of  its  scope,  the  logic  of  the 
arrangements,  the  breadth  of  the  streets  and 
avenues,  the  beauty  of  the  prospects  cleverly 
taken  into  account,  the  quantity  of  ground  set 
apart  for  gardens  and  parks,  the  display  of  waters, 
the  plan  was  a  unique  monument.  The  selection 
of  the  place  for  what  we  call  the  Capitol  and  the 
White  House,  which  were  then  called  the  Federal 
House  and  the  Palace  for  the  President,  near 
which  the  ministerial  departments  were  to  be 
built,  had  been  the  result  of  a  good  deal  of  think- 
ing and  comparing.  "After  much  menutial  [sic] 
search  for  an  eligible  situation,  prompted,  as  I 
may  say,  from  a  fear  of  being  prejudiced  in  favor 
of  a  first  opinion,  I  could  discover  no  one  so  ad- 
vantageously to  greet  the  congressional  building 
as  is  that  on  the  west  end  of  Jenkins  heights, 
which  stand  as  a  pedestal  waiting  for  a  monu- 
ment. .  .  .  Some  might,  perhaps,  require  less 
labor  to  be  made  agreeable,  but,  after  all  assistance 
of  arts,  none  ever  would  be  made  so  grand."  On 
that  very  pedestal  now  rises  the  Capitol  of  the 
United  States. 

As  for  the  "Presidential  Palace,"  L'Enfant  made 
his  choice  with  the  object,  he  says,  of  "adding  to 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      171 

the  sumptuousness  of  a  palace  the  convenience 
of  a  house  and  the  agreeableness  of  a  country 
seat,"  which  are  the  three  main  qualities  actually 
combined  in  the  present  White  House.  He  se- 
lected a  spot  which  Washington  had  himself 
noticed  as  a  convenient  one,  at  some  distance 
from  Congress,  it  is  true,  but  that  would  not  matter 
much,  L'Enfant  thought,  with  his  old-world  no- 
tions of  etiquette,  for  "no  message  to  nor  from 
the  President  is  to  be  made  without  a  sort  of 
decorum  which  will  doubtless  point  out  the  pro- 
priety of  committee  waiting  on  him  in  carriage, 
should  his  palace  be  even  contiguous  to  Congress." 
Since  it  was  a  question  of  driving,  it  little  mat- 
tered whether  the  drive  was  to  be  a  little  more 
or  less  long. 

For  different  reasons  President  Washington  ap- 
proved of  that  distance ;  major  e  longinquo  amicitia, 
he  apparently  thought.  "Where  and  how,"  he 
once  wrote  to  Alexander  White,  "the  houses  for 
the  President  and  other  public  officers  may  be 
fixed  is  to  me  as  an  individual  a  matter  of  moon- 
shine, but  .  .  .  the  daily  intercourse  which  the 
secretaries  of  the  departments  must  have  with 
the  President  would  render  a  distant  situation 
extremely  inconvenient  to  them;  and  not  much 
less  so  would  one  be  close  to  the  Capitol,  for  it  was 
the  universal  complaint  of  them  all,  that  while 
the  legislature  was  in  session  they  could  do  little 


172      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

or  no  business,  so  much  were  they  interrupted  by 
the  individual  visits  of  members  (in  office  hours) 
and  by  calls  for  papers.  Many  of  them  have  de- 
clared to  me  that  they  have  often  been  obliged 
to  go  home  and  deny  themselves  in  order  to 
transact  the  current  business."1  In  that  respect, 
carriage  or  no  carriage,  distance  would  have  its 
merits. 

L'Enfant's  letters  and  the  notes  accompanying 
his  plans  show  that  everything  in  the  future  city 
had  been  devised,  indeed,  with  an  intention: 
ever-flowing  fountains  and  a  cascade  for  health 
and  beauty;  an  avenue  of  noble  buildings,  lead- 
ing from  the  Capitol  to  the  Presidential  House, 
and  increasing  the  dignified  appearance  of  both: 
"The  grand  avenue,"  he  wrote,  "connecting  both 
the  Palace  and  the  Federal  House  will  be  most 
magnificent  and  most  convenient,"  with  a  num- 
ber of  handsome  monuments,  a  very  character- 
istic one  being  a  temple  for  national  semireligious 
celebrations,  "such  as  public  prayer,  thanks- 
givings, funeral  orations,  etc.,  and  assigned  to 
the  special  use  of  no  particular  sect  or  denomi- 
nation, but  equally  opened  to  all."  It  would  also 
be  a  pantheon  for  the  illustrious  dead,  "as  may 
hereafter  be  decreed  by  the  voice  of  a  grateful 
nation."  A  column,  as  yet  never  built,  was  "to 
be  erected  to  celebrate  the  first  rise  of  a  navy, 

'March  25,  1798. 


I/ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      173 

and  to  stand  a  ready  monument  to  consecrate 
its  progress  and  achievements."  The  squares 
were  to  be  allotted,  one  to  each  of  the  States 
forming  the  Union:  "The  centre  of  each  square 
will  admit  of  statues,  columns,  obelisks,  or  any 
other  ornaments  ...  to  perpetuate  not  only  the 
memory  of  such  individuals  whose  counsels  or 
military  achievements  were  conspicuous  in  giving 
liberty  and  independence  to  this  country,  but  also 
those  whose  usefulness  hath  rendered  them  worthy 
of  general  imitation,  to  invite  the  youth  of  suc- 
ceeding generations  to  tread  in  the  paths  of  those 
sages  or  heroes  whom  their  country  has  thought 
proper  to  celebrate."  This  was  a  way,  L'Enfant 
considered,  of  fortifying  the  Union  and  of  giving 
to  the  very  city  that  educational  value  to  which 
he  attached  so  much  importance. 

Chief  among  those  patriotic  objects  was  to  be, 
at  some  distance  north  of  the  place  where  the 
Washington  monument  now  rises,  "the  equestrian 
figure  of  George  Washington,  a  monument  voted 
in  1783  by  the  late  Continental  Congress."  And 
L'Enfant  must  certainly  have  hoped  that  the 
author  would  be  his  illustrious  compatriot,  the 
sculptor  Houdon,  on  whose  behalf  we  have  seen 
him  writing  to  Congress,  in  1785,  as  to  the  prob- 
able cost. 

Distant  views  and  prospects  were,  of  course, 
to  be  used  to  the  best  advantage:  "Attention  has 


174      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

been  paid  to  the  passing  of  those  leading  avenues 
over  the  most  favorable  ground  for  prospect  and 
convenience."  But,  above  all,  L'Enfant  was  per- 
sistent in  his  request  that,  on  no  account,  the 
grandeur  of  his  conception  be  in  any  way  cur- 
tailed: it  was  to  remain  commensurate  with  the 
greatness  of  the  United  States  of  future  times. 
The  plan  "must  leave  to  posterity  a  grand  idea 
of  the  patriotic  interest  which  promoted  it."  l 
He  foresaw  much  opposition  to  some  of  his  ideas, 
but  besought  the  President  to  stand  by  him,  and 
especially  to  prevent  any  dwarfing  of  his  views: 
"I  remain  assured  you  will  conceive  it  essential 
to  pursue  with  dignity  the  operation  of  an  under- 
taking of  a  magnitude  so  worthy  of  the  concern 
of  a  grand  empire  .  .  .  over  whose  progress  the 
eyes  of  every  other  nation,  envying  the  oppor- 
tunity denied  them,  will  stand  judge."2 

To  make  a  man  of  that  temper  and  enthusiasm, 
having  a  reason  for  each  of  his  propositions,  ac- 
cept hints  and  change  his  mind  was  almost  an 
impossibility.  In  vain  did  Jefferson  object  "to 
the  obligation  to  build  the  houses  at  a  given  dis- 
tance from  the  street.  ...  It  produces  a  dis- 
gusting monotony;  all  persons  make  this  com- 
plaint against  Philadelphia."  In  the  same  record 
of  his  views,  however,  and  much  more  to  his  credit, 

1  L'Enfant's  Observations  Explanatory  of  the  Plan,  inscribed  on  it. 

2  Conclusion  of  his  third  report. 


L'ENFANT  AND   THE  FEDERAL  CITY      175 

Washington's  secretary  of  state  is  seen  foreseeing 
the  sky-scraper  and  its  dangers:  "In  Paris  it  is 
forbidden  to  build  a  house  beyond  a  given  height, 
and  it  is  admitted  to  be  a  good  restriction.  It 
keeps  down  the  price  of  grounds,  keeps  the  houses 
low  and  convenient,  and  the  streets  light  and  airy. 
Fires  are  much  more  manageable  when  houses 
are  low,"1  as  was  only  too  well  evidenced  since 
in  the  fires  at  Chicago,  Baltimore,  and  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

As  for  the  President  himself,  he  had  well-deter- 
mined, practical  ideas  on  some  points,  such  as  the 
befitting  distance  between  the  places  of  abode 
of  Congress  and  of  the  chief  of  the  state,  and, 
what  was  of  more  import,  the  necessarily  large 
extent  of  the  ground  to  be  reserved  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  future  capital.2  On  the  rest,  with  his 
habit  of  trusting  those  who  knew,  he  seems  to 

1  "Opinion  on  Capital,"  November  29,  1790.     Writings,  ed.  Ford, 
V,  253. 

2  Which  agreed  perfectly  with  L'Enfant's  constant  desire  to  ever 
do  things  "en  grand."     Washington  writes  to  him  that,  "although 
it  may  not  be  immediately  wanting,"  a  large  tract  of  ground  must  be 
reserved.     The  lands  to  be  set  apart,  "in  my  opinion  are  those  be- 
tween Rock  Creek,  the  Potowmac  River,  and  the  Eastern  Branch, 
and  as  far  up  the  latter  as  the  turn  of  the  channel  above  Evens's 
point;   thence  including  the  flat  back  of  Jenkins's  height;  thence 
to  the  road  leading  from  Georgetown  to  Bladensburg  as  far  easterly 
along  the  same  as  to  include  the  Branch  which  runs  across  it,  some- 
where near  the  exterior  of  the  Georgetown  Session.    Thence  in  a 
proper  direction  to  Rock  Creek  at  or  above  the  ford,  according  to 
the  situation  of  ground."     Mount   Vernon,  April  4,  1791,  Wash- 
ington's manuscript  Letter  Book,  vol.  XI,  Library  of  Congress. 


176      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

have  left  free  rein  to  L' Enfant.  Submitting  to 
him  certain  suggestions,  some  from  Jefferson,  he 
allows  him  to  use  them  or  not,  as  he  pleases, 
and  he  personally  seems  to  incline  toward  not: 
"Sir,  although  I  do  not  conceive  that  you  will 
derive  any  material  advantage  from  an  examina- 
tion of  the  inclosed  papers,  yet,  as  they  have  been 
drawn  under  different  circumstances  and  by  differ- 
ent persons,  they  may  be  compared  with  your  own 
ideas  of  a  proper  plan  for  the  federal  city.  .  .  . 
The  rough  sketch  by  Mr.  Jefferson  was  done 
under  an  idea  that  no  offer  worthy  of  considera- 
tion would  come  from  the  landholders  in  the 
vicinity  of  Carrollsburgh,  from  the  backwardness 
which  appeared  in  them,  and  therefore  was  ac- 
commodated to  the  grounds  about  Georgetown."1 
Criticism  of  L'Enf ant's  plan  turned  out  to  be 
insignificant,  and  the  approbation  general.  "The 
work  of  Major  L'Enfant,  which  is  greatly  admired, 
will  show,"  Washington  said,  "that  he  had  many 
objects  to  attend  to  and  to  combine,  not  on  paper 
merely,  but  to  make  them  correspond  with  the 
actual  circumstances  of  the  ground."2  Jefferson, 
who  had  the  good  taste  not  to  stick  to  his  own 
former  suggestions,  was  sending,  a  little  later, 
copies  of  the  plan  to  Gouverneur  Morris,  then 
minister  to  France,  for  him  to  exhibit  in  various 

1  Same  letter. 

2  To  the  Commissioners,  December  18,  1791. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      177 

cities  as  a  thing  for  the  United  States  to  be  proud 
of:  ''I  sent  you  by  the  way  of  London  a  dozen 
plans  of  the  city  of  Washington  in  the  Federal 
territory,  hoping  you  would  have  them  displayed 
to  public  view  where  they  would  be  most  seen  by 
those  descriptions  of  men  worthy  and  likely  to  be 
attracted  to  it.  Paris,  Lyons,  Rouen,  and  the 
seaport  towns  of  Havre,  Nantes,  Bordeaux,  and 
Marseille  would  be  proper  places  to  send  them 
to."1 

Three  assistants  had  been  given  to  L' Enfant, 
two  of  the  Ellicot  brothers  (Andrew  and  Ben- 
jamin) and  Isaac  Roberdeau,  the  major's  trustiest 
second.  Three  Commissioners  of  the  District  had 
been  appointed,  Thomas  Johnson  and  Daniel 
Carroll,  both  of  Maryland,  and  David  Stuart,  of 
Virginia.  They  notified  L'Enfant,  on  the  gth  of 
September,  1791,  that  a  name  had  been  selected 
for  the  district  and  the  city:  "We  have  agreed 
that  the  federal  district  shall  be  called  'the 
Territory  of  Columbia,'  and  the  federal  city 
'the  City  of  Washington.'  The  title  of  the  map 
will  therefore  be  'A  map  of  the  City  of  Washing- 
ton in  the  District  of  Columbia." 

For  the  expropriation  of  the  ground  with  a 
minimum  actual  outlay,  an  ingenious  system,  also 
applied  elsewhere,  had  been  adopted:  "The  terms 
entered  into  by  me,"  Washington  wrote  to  Jeffer- 

1  Philadelphia,  March  12,  1793. 


178      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

son,  "on  the  part  of  the  United  States  with  the 
landowners  of  Georgetown  and  Carrollsburgh,  are 
that  all  the  land  from  Rock  Creek  along  the  river 
to  the  Eastern  Branch  ...  is  ceded  to  the  pub- 
lic, on  condition  that,  when  the  whole  shall  be 
surveyed  and  laid  off  as  a  city,  which  Major  L'En- 
fant  is  now  directed  to  do,  the  present  proprietors 
shall  retain  every  other  lot,  and  for  such  parts 
of  the  land  as  may  be  taken  for  public  use  they 
shall  be  allowed  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  pounds 
per  acre,  the  public  having  the  right  to  reserve 
such  parts  of  the  wood  on  the  land  as  may  be 
thought  necessary  to  be  preserved  for  ornament; 
the  landholders  to  have  the  use  and  profit  of  all 
the  grounds  until  the  city  is  laid  off  into  lots, 
which  by  this  agreement  became  public  property. 
Nothing  is  to  be  allowed  for  the  ground  which 
may  be  occupied  as  streets  or  alleys."  The  Presi- 
dent was  confident  that  everybody  would  acquiesce 
and  show  good-will,  "even  the  obstinate  Mr. 
Burns."1 

But  it  turned  out  that  there  were  other  obsti- 
nate people  besides  Mr.  Burns,  L'Enfant  himself 
chief  among  them.  He  had  evinced  from  the 
first  a  great  fear  of  speculators,  and  was  at  once 
at  war  with  them.  "How  far,"  he  boldly  wrote 
to  Hamilton,  ' '  I  have  contributed  to  overset  that 
plotting  business,  it  would  not  do  for  me  to  tell; 

1  March  31,  1791. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      179 

besides,  I  am  not  wholly  satisfied  whether  I  would 
be  thanked  for  by  the  people  among  whom  you 
live."1  The  three  Commissioners  had  notions  of 
their  own,  but  could  never  bring  L' Enfant  to 
take  into  account  either  their  persons  or  their 
ideas;  he  would  acknowledge  no  chief  except 
Washington,  who,  gently  at  first,  firmly  after- 
ward, sternly  later,  and  vainly  throughout,  tried 
to  make  the  major  understand  that  he  was  one 
of  the  Commissioners'  subordinates.  A  great  re- 
ciprocal irritation,  which  even  the  President's 
painstaking  diplomacy  could  not  assuage,  began 
between  them  from  the  first.  Out  of  fear  of  specu- 
lators, L'Enfant  wanted  the  sale  of  the  lots  to  be 
delayed,  while  the  Commissioners  desired  to  make 
a  beginning  as  soon  as  possible.  The  officer  kept, 
accordingly,  his  plan  to  himself,  and  refused  to 
have  it  shown  to  would-be  purchasers.  How,  then, 
Washington  exclaimed,  could  they  be  "induced 
to  buy,  to  borrow  an  old  adage,  a  pig  in  a  poke"?2 
The  major  would  not  be  persuaded,  and,  giving 
an  early  example  of  an  unconquerable  fear  of 
what  would  now  be  called  a  "trust,"  he  persisted 
in  refusing  to  show  his  plan  to  any  individual  or 
association.  He  had  declared  beforehand,  in  one 
of  his  reports  to  the  President,  what  were  his  views 
and  how  things  should  be  delayed  until  the  plan 

1  April  8,  1791.    Hamilton  papers,  vol.  XI. 

2  To  David  Stuart,  November  20,  1791. 


180      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

could  be  engraved,  distributed  all  over  the  coun- 
try, and  made  known  to  all  people  at  the  same 
time:  "A  sale  made  previous  the  general  plan  of 
the  distribution  of  the  city  is  made  public,  and 
before  the  circumstance  of  that  sale  taking  place 
has  had  time  to  be  known  through  the  whole 
continent,  will  not  call  a  sufficient  concurrence, 
and  must  be  confined  to  a  few  individuals  specu- 
lating .  .  .  and  the  consequence  of  a  low  sale  in 
this  first  instance  may  prove  injurious  to  the  sub- 
sequent ones  by  serving  as  precedents."  He  was 
afraid  of  the  "plotting  of  a  number  of  certain  de- 
signing men,"  of  the  forming  of  a  "society"  or- 
ganized "to  engross  the  most  of  the  sale  and 
master  the  whole  business."1 

When  one  of  the  chief  landowners  of  the  dis- 
trict, Daniel  Carroll,  of  Duddington,  a  relative  of 
one  of  the  Commissioners,  decided,  in  spite  of  all 
warnings,  to  go  on  with  the  building  of  a  house 
across  what  was  to  be  New  Jersey  Avenue,  mat- 
ters came  to  a  crisis.  Washington  tried  to  pacify 
L'Enfant,  whose  indignation  knew  no  bounds. 
"As  a  similar  case,"  he  wrote  to  him,  "cannot 
happen  again  (Mr.  Carroll's  house  having  been 
begun  before  the  federal  district  was  fixed  upon), 
no  precedent  will  be  established  by  yielding  a 
little  in  the  present  instance;  and  it  will  always 
be  found  sound  policy  to  conciliate  the  good-will 
1  Report  to  the  President,  August  19,  1791. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      181 

rather  than  provoke  the  enmity  of  any  man, 
where  it  can  be  accomplished  without  much  diffi- 
culty, inconvenience,  or  loss." 

But  even  at  the  request  of  a  leader  whom  he 
worshipped,  L'Enfant  would  not  be  persuaded. 
With  no  authority  from  the  Commissioners,  he 
sent  his  faithful  Roberdeau  to.  raze  the  house  to 
the  ground,  which  was  but  partly  done  when  the 
Commissioners  had  Roberdeau  arrested.  L'En- 
fant thereupon  came  in  person  with  some  labor- 
ers, and  saw  the  work  of  destruction  perfected 
(November  22).  He  barely  escaped  arrest  him- 
self. Washington,  who,  as  he  wrote  to  Jefferson, 
was  loath  to  lose  "his  services,  which  in  my  opin- 
ion would  be  a  serious  misfortune,"  severely  re- 
monstrated now  with  the  major.  "In  future  I 
must  strictly  enjoin  you  to  touch  no  man's  prop- 
erty without  his  consent,  or  the  previous  order 
of  the  Commissioners,"  adding  in  kindlier  tones: 
"Having  the  beauty  and  regularity  of  your  plan 
only  in  view,  you  pursue  it  as  if  every  person  or 
thing  were  obliged  to  yield  to  it."1 

But  so  they  are,  thought  L'Enfant.  For  him 
the  city  was  his  city,  his  child,  and  a  father  has  a 
right  to  rear  his  child  as  he  pleases.  Remon- 
strating went  on  some  time.  Jefferson  came  to 
the  rescue  of  the  President,  used  the  fairest  means, 
asked  the  major  to  dine  with  him  "tete  a  tete," 

1  December  2,  1791. 


182      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

so  as  to  quietly  discuss  the  federal  city,  the  hour 
for  the  meal  differing  rather  widely  from  ours: 
"Mr.  Jefferson  presents  his  compliments  to  Major 
L' Enfant,  and  is  sorry  to  have  been  absent  when 
he  was  so  kind  as  to  call  on  him,  as  he  wishes  to 
have  some  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject 
of  the  federal  city.  He  asks  the  favor  of  him  to 
come  and  take  a  private  dinner  with  him  to- 
morrow at  half  after  three,  which  may  afford 
time  and  opportunity  for  the  purpose. — Saturday 
January  7,  1792."*  Nothing  resulted.  Another 
landowner,  Notley  Young,  had  been  found  in  De- 
cember building  a  house  which  had,  "contrary  to 
expectation,  fallen  into  a  principal  street.  But  I 
hope,"  Washington  wrote  the  Commissioners, "  the 
major  does  not  mean  to  proceed  to  the  demolition 
of  this  also." 

On  no  point  would  L'Enfant  yield,  so  that  on 
March  6,  1792,  Jefferson  wrote  to  the  Commis- 
sioners: "It  having  been  found  impracticable  to 
employ  Major  L'Enfant  in  that  degree  of  sub- 
ordination which  was  lawful  and  proper,  he  has 
been  notified  that  his  services  were  at  an  end." 

A  consolation  and  a  comfort  to  him  was  the 
immediate  signing  by  all  the  landowners  of  the 
district,  except  two,  of  a  testimonial  "lamenting" 
his  departure,  wishing  for  his  return,  praising  his 
work,  "for  we  well  know  that  your  time  and  the 

1  L'Enfant  papers. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      183 

whole  powers  of  your  mind  have  been  for  months 
entirely  devoted  to  the  arrangements  in  the  city 
which  reflect  so  much  honor  on  your  taste  and 
judgment."1 

1  March  9,  1792.    Records  of  the  Columbia  Historical  Society,  II, 
137- 


IV 

The  bright  part  of  L'Enfant's  life  was  over. 
His  fame  was  great,  and  appeals  continued  for 
some  time  to  be  made  to  him  when  important 
works  were  contemplated.  But  his  same  ten- 
dency to  ever  see  things  "en  grand/'  his  unyield- 
ing disposition,  his  increasing  and  almost  morbid 
fear  of  speculators  wrecked  more  than  one  of  his 
undertakings. 

Almost  on  his  leaving  his  work  at  Washington 
he  was  asked  to  draw  the  plans  of  the  first  manu- 
facturing city,  devised  as  such,  in  the  United 
States,  and  which  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant in  existence,  Paterson,  N.  J.  "Major 
L'Enfant,  it  is  said,"  wrote  Washington,  who  still 
retained  a  friendly  feeling  for  him,  "is  perform- 
ing wonders  at  the  new  town  of  Paterson."1 
The  moving  spirit  was  Hamilton,  under  whose 
influence  had  been  founded  the  "Society  for  the 
Establishing  Useful  Manufactures."  The  chief 
point  was  to  transform  into  a  city  a  spot  where 
only  ten  houses  were  in  existence,  and  to  make 
of  it  an  industrial  one  by  turning  into  use  the 
Falls  of  the  Passaic.  Several  letters  of  the  major 
to  Hamilton,  giving  an  account  of  the  work,  in 

^o  the  Commissioners,  November  30,  1792. 
184 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      185 

which  faithful  Roberdeau  was  helping,  and  of  the 
increasing  difficulties  with  all  sorts  of  people,  are 
preserved  in  the  Library  of  Congress.  After  one 
year's  toil,  L'Enfant  was  once  more  notified  that 
his  services  were  no  longer  wanted. 

He  is  found  in  the  same  year  and  the  following 
one  working  as  an  engineer  at  Fort  Mifflin,  on  the 
Delaware,  and  as  an  architect  at  a  mansion  in 
Philadelphia  which  was  to  surpass  in  magnifi- 
cence any  other  in  the  States.  It  had  been  ordered 
of  him  by  Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the 
Revolution,  and  the  richest  man  in  America.1 
Here  was,  if  ever,  an  occasion  to  do  things  "en 
grand."  L'Enfant,  however,  did  them  "en  plus 
grand"  than  even  the  financier  had  dreamed; 
improvements  and  afterthoughts,  the  use  of  mar- 
ble for  columns  and  facades  increased  the  delay 
and  the  expense.  His  being  busy  at  Paterson  had 
also  been  at  first  another  cause  of  complaint. 
"Dear  Sir,"  Morris  beseechingly  wrote  him  from 
Philadelphia,  "I  had  like  to  have  stopped  my 
house  for  fear  of  wanting  money;  that  difficulty 
being  removed,  it  will  now  be  stopped  for  want 
of  Major  L'Enfant."2  The  roof  had  at  last  been 
put  on,  and  one  could  judge  of  the  beauty  of  the 
ensemble,  quite  remarkable,  as  we  can  see  from 

1  Morris  had  bought  for  it  a  whole  block,  limited  on  its  four  sides 
by  Chestnut,  Walnut,  Seventh,  and  Eighth  Streets. 

2  May  9,  1793.     (L'Enfant  papers.) 


186      I/ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

a  sketch  by  Birch  the  Elder  preserved  in  the 
Philadelphia  Library,  when  Morris's  catastrophe 
occurred,  putting  an  end  to  the  work,  and  swallow- 
ing part,  if  not  all,  of  L'Enfant's  savings.1 

In  his  delight  at  being  intrusted  with  the  plan 
of  the  federal  city  he  had  never  said  a  word  about 
any  remuneration,  and  he  had  not  copyrighted 
his  plan.  At  the  time  of  his  dismissal  Washing- 
ton had  written  to  the  Commissioners :  ' '  The  plan 
of  the  city  having  met  universal  applause  (as  far 
as  my  information  goes),  and  Major  L'Enfant 
having  become  a  very  discontented  man,  it  was 
thought  that  less  than  from  two  thousand  five 
hundred  to  three  thousand  dollars,  would  not  be 
proper  to  offer  him  for  his  services;  instead  of 
this,  suppose  five  hundred  guineas  and  a  lot  in 
a  good  part  of  the  city  were  substituted?" 

The  offer  was  made;  L'Enfant  refused,  with- 
out giving  reasons.  More  and  more  gloomy  times 
were  in  store  for  him;  mishaps  and  disappoint- 
ments multiplied.  He  had  laid  great  store  on 
the  selling  of  copies  of  his  plan,  but  since  he  had 
not  copyrighted  it,  no  royalty  on  the  sale  was  re- 

1  He  seems  to  have  tried  to  help  the  financier  rather  than  to  be 
helped  by  him.  Ill-satisfied  as  he  was  with  the  house,  for  which 
he,  apparently,  never  paid  PEnfant  anything,  Morris  wrote:  "But 
he  lent  me  thirteen  shares  of  bank  stock  disinterestedly,  and  on  this 
point  I  feel  the  greatest  anxiety  that  he  should  get  the  same  number 
of  shares  with  the  dividends,  for  the  want  of  which  he  has  suffered 
great  distress."  Written  about  1800.  W.  B.  Bryan,  History  of  the 
National  Capital,  1914,  p.  181. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE   FEDERAL  CITY      187 

served  for  him.  He  protested  against  this, 
against  the  way  in  which  the  engraving  had  been 
made,  with  grievous  "errors  of  execution,"  and 
against  the  suppression  of  his  name  on  it,  "de- 
priving me  of  the  repute  of  the  projector."  Con- 
trary, however,  to  the  fear  expressed  at  first  by 
Washington,  that  out  of  spite  he  might,  in  his 
discontent,  side  with  the  many  who  disapproved 
of  the  vast  and  difficult  undertaking,  he  remained 
loyal  to  it,  and  "there  is  no  record  of  any  act  or 
word  that  tarnishes  his  life  history  with  the 
blemish  of  disloyalty  to  the  creation  of  his  genius. 
He  bore  his  honors  and  disappointments  in  hu- 
mility and  poverty."1 

Poverty  was,  indeed,  at  his  door,  and  soon  in 
his  house.  Haunted  by  the  notion  of  his  wrongs, 
some  only  too  real,  some  more  or  less  imaginary, 
he  sent  to  Congress  memoir  after  memoir,  recall- 
ing what  he  had  done,  and  what  was  his  destitu- 
tion, the  "absolute  destruction  of  his  family's 
fortune  in  Europe,"  owing  to  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, his  being  reduced  "from  a  state  of  ease  and 
content  to  one  the  most  distressed  and  helpless," 
living  as  he  did,  upon  "borrowed  bread";  but  he 
would  not  doubt  of  "the  magnanimity  and  justice 
of  Congress."2 

1  S.  C.  Busey,  Pictures  of  the  City  of  Washington  in  the  Past,  1898, 
p.  108. 

2  Memoirs  of  1801,  1802,  1813,  in  the  Jefferson  papers,  Library  of 
Congress. 


188      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

The  family's  fortune  had  been  reduced,  indeed, 
to  a  low  ebb,  his  own  lack  of  attention  to  his 
financial  affairs  making  matters  worse.  His  in- 
ability to  properly  attend  to  them  is  only  too  well 
evidenced  by  some  letters  from  French  relatives, 
showing  that,  while  he  was  himself  in  absolute 
want,  he  neglected  to  receive  the  pension  be- 
stowed on  him  by  the  French  Government,  and 
which,  in  spite  of  the  Revolution,  had  been  main- 
tained. He  had  also  inherited  from  the  old 
painter,  his  father,  a  small  farm  in  Normandy, 
but  had  taken  no  steps  about  it,  so  that  the 
farmer  never  ceased  to  pocket  the  revenues.1 

One  of  these  letters,  which  tells  him  of  the 
death  of  his  mother,  who  "died  with  the  piety  of 
an  angel,"  shows  what  reports  reached  France  as 
to  the  major's  standing  among  his  American 
friends:  "All  the  persons  whom  I  have  seen  and 
who  know  you,  assured  me  that  you  enjoyed 
public  esteem.  This  is  everything  in  a  country 
of  which  people  praise  the  morals,  the  virtues,  and 
the  probity  as  worthy  of  our  first  ancestors."2 

On  two  occasions,  after  many  years,  Congress 

1  Letter  from  his  cousin,  Destouches,  Paris,  September  15,  1805, 
greatly  exaggerating,  as  shown  by  the  letter  mentioned  below,  his 
mother's  state  of  poverty.     (L'Enfant  papers.) 

2  From  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Roland,  ne'e  Mallet,  whose  husband  had 
a  modest  position  at  the  Ministry  of  the  Navy;  Paris,  May  5,  1806. 
The  mother's  furniture  and  silver  plate  was  valued  at  1,500  livres. 
Allusion  is  made  to  L'Enfant's  deceased  sister  and  to  her  "manage 
projet6  avec  Mr.  Leclerc."     (L'Enfant  papers.) 


I/ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      189 

voted  modest  sums  for  L'Enfant,  but  they  were 
at  once  appropriated  by  his  creditors.  He  was, 
moreover,  appointed,  in  1812,  "professor  of  the 
art  of  military  engineering  in  the  Military  Academy 
of  the  United  States,"  a  nomination  which,  in 
spite  of  the  entreaties  of  James  Monroe,  then 
secretary  of  state,  he  declined.  He  is  found  in 
September,  1814,  working  at  Fort  Washington, 
when  fifty  men  with  spades  and  axes  are  sent 
him. 

He  survived  eleven  years,  haunting  the  lobbies 
of  the  Capitol,  pacing  the  newly  marked  avenues 
of  "his"  city,  watching  its  growth,  deploring  the 
slightest  deviation  from  his  original  design,  for, 
as  Washington  had  early  noticed,  he  was  "so  te- 
nacious of  his  plans  as  to  conceive  that  they  would 
be  marred  if  they  underwent  any  change  or  altera- 
tion,"1 visiting  the  friends  he  had  among  the 
early  settlers.  "Mr.  W.  W.  Corcoran,  who  lately 
departed  this  life  in  the  city  of  Washington,  full 
of  years  and  honor  .  .  .  had  a  very  distinct  recol- 
lection of  the  personal  appearance  of  L'Enfant, 
the  latter  having  been  a  frequent  visitor  at  his 
father's  house.  He  described  him  to  me  as  a 
tall,  erect  man,  fully  six  feet  in  height,  finely  pro- 
portioned, nose  prominent,  of  military  bearing, 
courtly  air,  and  polite  manners,  his  figure  usually 
enveloped  in  a  long  overcoat  and  surmounted  by 

^o  David  Stuart  November  20,  1791. 


190      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

a  bell-crowned  hat — a  man  who  would  attract 
attention  in  any  assembly."1 

He  ended  his  days,  the  permanent  guest  of  the 
Digges  family,  in  their  house  near  Washington. 
His  death  occurred  there  in  1825,  and  he  was 
buried  in  their  property  at  the  foot  of  a  tree. 
An  inventory  of  his  "personal  goods  and  chattels" 
showed  that  they  consisted  in  three  watches, 
three  compasses,  some  books,  maps,  and  survey- 
ing instruments,  the  whole  being  valued  at  forty- 
six  dollars. 

The  federal  city,  Washington  had  written  in 
1798  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Fairfax,  then  in  England, 
will  be  a  great  and  beautiful  one  "a  century  hence, 
if  this  country  keeps  united,  and  it  is  surely  its 
policy  and  interest  to  do  it."  It  took,  indeed,  a 
great  many  years,  and  for  a  long  time  doubters 
could  enjoy  their  doubts,  and  jokers  their  jokes. 
The  Duke  de  La  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt  visited 
the  incipient  town  in  1797;  he  found  that  it  pos- 
sessed one  hundred  and  fifty  houses,  scattered 
here  and  there;  the  house  for  the  President  was 
ready  to  be  covered  the  same  year,  and  the  only 
wing  of  the  Capitol  yet  begun  was  to  receive  its 
roof  the  year  following,  both  being  "handsome 
buildings,  in  white  stones  very  well  wrought." 

1  Hugh  T.  Taggart,  in  Records  of  the  Columbia  Historical  Society, 
XI,  216. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      191 

But  the  unredeemable  fault,  in  his  eyes,  was  the 
very  magnitude  and  beauty  of  the  plan.  "The 
plan,"  he  wrote,  "is  fine,  cleverly  and  grandly 
designed,  but  it  is  its  very  grandeur,  its  magnifi- 
cence, which  causes  it  to  be  nothing  but  a  dream." 
The  distance,  so  heartily  approved  of  by  Wash- 
ington, between  the  President's  house  and  the 
Capitol,  seemed  to  the  traveller  a  serious  objec- 
tion ;  the  raising  of  five  hundred  houses  would  be 
necessary  to  connect  the  two  buildings ;.  not  one  is 
in  existence.  ' '  If  this  gap  is  not  filled,  communica- 
tion will  be  impracticable  in  winter,  for  one  can 
scarcely  suppose  that  the  United  States  would 
undergo  the  expense  for  pavement,  footpaths,  and 
lamps  for  such  a  long  stretch  of  uninhabited 
ground."1  This  wonder  has,  however,  been 
seen. 

For  a  long  time,  for  more  than  half  the  present 
duration  of  the  city's  life,  deriders  could  deride 
to  their  heart's  content.  Few  cities  have  ever 
been  so  abundantly  nicknamed  as  Washington, 
the  "wilderness  city,"  the  city  "of  magnificent 
distances,"  the  "village  monumental,"  the  city, 
as  reported  by  Jean-Jacques  Ampere,  the  son  of 
the  great  scientist,  who  visited  it  in  1851,  of 
"streets  without  houses,  and  of  houses  without 
streets."  He  saw  in  its  fate  "a  striking  proof  of 
this  truth  that  one  cannot  create  a  great  city  at 

1  Voyage  en  Amerique,  VI,  122  ff. 


192      L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

will."  But  this  truth,  as  some  others,  has  proved 
an  untruth. 

The  growth  was  slow,  indeed,  but  constant, 
and  when  the  century  was  over,  Washington's 
prophecy  and  L'Enfant's  foresight  were  justi- 
fied by  the  event.  A  city  had  risen,  ample  and 
beautiful,  a  proper  capital  for  a  wealthy  and  power- 
ful nation,  one  quite  apart,  copied  on  no  other, 
"not  one  of  those  cities,"  as  was  remarked,  in 
our  days,  by  one  of  Washington's  successors,  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  "of  which  you  can  cut  out  a  piece  and 
transplant  it  into  another,  without  any  one  per- 
ceiving that  something  has  happened." 

Then  at  last  came  L'Enfant's  day.  What  he 
had  always  expected  for  "his"  city  took  place; 
what  he  had  never  expected  for  himself  took  place 
also.  In  January,  1902,  both  the  "Park  Com- 
mission," composed  of  Daniel  H.  Burnham, 
Charles  F.  McKim,  Augustus  Saint-Gaudens,  and 
F.  L.  Olmsted,  and  the  Senate  committee  pre- 
sented their  reports  on  the  improvement  and  de- 
velopment of  Washington;  the  conclusions  were: 
"The  original  plan  of  the  city  of  Washington, 
having  stood  the  test  of  a  century,  has  met  uni- 
versal approval.  The  departures  from  that  plan 
are  to  be  regretted,  and  wherever  possible,  reme- 
died." It  was  thus  resolved  to  revert,  as  much  as 
circumstances  allowed,  and  in  spite  of  a  heavy 
outlay,  to  several  of  L'Enfant's  ideas,  especially 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      193 

to  one  which  he  considered  of  greatest  importance, 
and  which  had  been  kept  so  long  in  abeyance,  the 
giving  of  its  proper  character  to  that  "grand 
avenue"  between  the  Capitol  and  the  White 
House,  meant  to  be  "most  magnificent  and  most 
convenient."  It  is  now  going  to  be  both. 

As  for  L' Enfant  himself,  one  more  appropria- 
tion, this  time  not  to  go  to  his  creditors,  was 
voted  by  Congress  on  account  of  the  major,  and 
it  was  resolved  that  his  ashes,  the  place  of  which 
continued  to  be  marked  only  by  a  tree,  should  be 
removed  to  Arlington  National  Cemetery,  to  lie 
in  that  ever-growing  army  of  the  dead,  former 
members  of  the  regiments  of  that  Republic  for 
which  he  had  fought  and  bled.  His  remains  were 
brought  to  what  had  been  "Jenkins's  Hill,"  and 
placed  under  the  great  dome  of  the  Capitol.  In 
the  presence  of  the  chief  of  the  state,  President 
Taft,  of  representatives  of  Congress,  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  other 
patriotic  and  artistic  societies,  and  of  a  vast 
crowd,  on  the  28th  of  April,  1909,  orations  were 
delivered  by  the  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  James  Sherman,  and  by  the  Chief  Com- 
missioner of  the  District,  Henry  B.  McFarland, 
the  latter  amply  making  up,  by  his  friendly  and 
eloquent  address,  for  the  long-forgotten  troubles 
of  his  predecessors  with  L'Enfant.  The  Vice- 
President  courteously  concluded  thus :  "And  turn- 


194      I/ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY 

ing  to  you,  Mr.  Ambassador  ...  I  express  the 
hope  that  the  friendship  between  our  nations, 
which  has  existed  for  more  than  a  century,  will 
be  but  intensified  as  time  passes,  and  that  we  will 
in  the  future  join  hands  in  advancing  every  good 
cause  which  an  all-wise  Providence  intrusts  to  our 
care."  The  hearse,  wrapped  in  the  three  colors 
of  France  and  America,  was  accompanied  to  Ar- 
lington by  the  French  naval  and  military  attaches, 
and  an  escort  from  one  of  those  regiments  of  en- 
gineers to  which  the  major  himself  had  belonged. 
A  handsome  monument  was  unveiled  two  years 
later  by  Miss  E.  C.  Morgan,  the  great-grand- 
daughter of  William  Digges,  who  had  befriended 
L'Enfant  in  his  last  days,  the  chief  speeches  being 
delivered  by  President  Taft,  and  by  the  secretary 
of  state,  Elihu  Root.1  "Few  men,"  Mr.  Root  said, 
' '  can  afford  to  wait  a  hundred  years  to  be  remem- 
bered. It  is  not  a  change  in  L'Enfant  that  brings 
us  here.  It  is  we  who  have  changed,  who  have 
just  become  able  to  appreciate  his  work.  And 
our  tribute  to  him- should  be  to  continue  his  work." 
The  monument,  by  W.  W.  Bosworth,  who,  like 
L'Enfant  had  received  in  Paris  his  artistic  educa- 
tion, is  in  the  shape  of  a  table,  on  which  has  been 
engraved  a  facsimile  of  the  original  plan  of  the 
city  by  the  French  soldier-artist.  From  the  slope 
where  it  has  been  raised  can  be  seen,  on  the  other 

1  May  22,  1911. 


L'ENFANT  AND  THE  FEDERAL  CITY      195 

side  of  the  river,  the  ceaselessly  growing  federal 
capital,  called  Washington,  "a  revered  name," 
another  French  officer,  the  Chevalier  de  Chastel- 
lux,  had  written,  when  visiting,  in  1782,  another 
and  earlier  town  of  the  same  name  in  Connecticut, 
"a  revered  name,  whose  memory  will  undoubtedly 
last  longer  than  the  very  city  called  upon  to  per- 
petuate it." 


Ill 

WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 


WASHINGTON'S  acquaintance  with 
things  French  began  early  and  was  of 
a  mixed  nature.  As  a  pupil  of  the 
French  Huguenot  Maryes,  who  kept  a  school  at 
Fredericksburg,  and  did  not  teach  him  French,1 
we  find  him  carefully  transcribing,  in  his  elegant 
youthful  hand,  those  famous  "Rules  of  Civility 
and  Decent  Behavior  in  Company  and  Conversa- 
tion," which  have  recently  been  proved  to  be 
French.  Whether  this  French  teaching  given 
him  by  a  Frenchman  engraved  itself  in  his  mind 
or  happened  to  match  his  natural  disposition,  or 
both,  certain  it  is  that  he  lived  up  to  the  best 
among  those  maxims,  those,  for  example,  and 
they  are  remarkably  numerous,  that  deprecate 

1  He  kept  all  his  life  a  feeling  that  his  early  education  had  been  in- 
complete. Strongly  advised  by  David  Humphreys  to  write  an  ac- 
count of  the  great  events  in  which  he  had  taken  part,  he  answered 
that  he  would  not,  on  account  of  a  lack  of  leisure,  and  a  "conscious- 
ness of  a  defective  education."  July  25,  1785.  When  Lafayette 
was  beseeching  him  to  visit  France  some  day,  he  answered:  "Re- 
member, my  good  friend,  that  I  am  unacquainted  with  your  language, 
that  I  am  too  far  advanced  in  years  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  it." 
September  30,  1779.  Franklin  added  later  his  entreaties  to  those 
of  Lafayette;  see  Washington's  answer,  October  n,  1780. 

199 


200         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

jokes  and  railing  at  the  expense  of  others,  or 
those  of  a  noble  import  advising  the  young  man 
to  be  "no  flatterer,"  to  "show  no  sign  of  choler 
in  reproving,  but  to  do  it  with  sweetness  and 
mildness,"  those  prescribing  that  his  "recreations 
be  manful,  not  sinful,"  and  giving  him  this  advice 
of  supreme  importance,  which  Washington  ob- 
served throughout  life:  "Labor  to  keep  alive  in 
your  breast  that  little  spark  of  celestial  fire 
called  conscience." 

Another  chance  that  Washington  had  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  things  French  was  through 
his  reading,  and  was  less  favorable  to  them.  An 
early  note  in  his  hand  informs  us  that,  about  the 
year  1748,  he,  being  then  sixteen,  had,  "in  the 
Spectator,  read  to  No.  143."  All  those  numbers 
had  been  written  by  Steele  and  Addison  at  a 
period  of  French  wars,  at  the  moment  when  we 
were  fighting  "Monsieur  Malbrouk."  Not  a 
portrait  of  the  French  in  those  numbers  that  is 
not  a  caricature;  they  are  a  "ludicrous  nation"; 
their  women  are  "fantastical,"  their  men  "vain 
and  lively,"  their  fashions  ridiculous;  not  even 
their  wines  find  grace  in  the  eyes  of  Steele,  who 
could  plead,  it  is  true,  that  he  was  not  without 
experience  on  the  subject,  and  who  declares  that 
this  "plaguy  French  claret"  is  greatly  inferior 
to  "a  bottle  or  two  of  good,  solid,  edifying  port." 

Washington  was  soon  to  learn  more  of  French 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE   FRENCH         201 

people,  and  was  to  find  that  they  were  something 
else  than  mere  ludicrous  and  lively  puppets. 

A  soldier  born,  with  all  that  is  necessary  to 
prove  a  good  one  and  to  become  an  apt  leader, 
having,  as  he  himself  wrote,  "resolution  to  face 
what  any  man  durst."1  Washington  rose  rapidly 
in  the  ranks,  becoming  a  colonel  in  1754,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two.  He  was  three  times  sent,  in 
his  younger  days,  to  observe,  and  check  if  he  could, 
the  progress  of  his  future  allies,  in  the  Ohio  and 
Monongahela  Valleys.  His  journal  and  letters 
show  him  animated  toward  them  with  the  spirit 
befitting  a  loyal  subject  of  George  II,  none  of  his 
judgments  on  them  being  spoiled  by  any  undue 
leniency.  ,. 

On  the  first  occasion  he  was  simply  ordered  to 
hand  to  the  commander  of  a  French  fort  a  letter 
from  the  governor  of  Virginia,  and  to  ask  him  to 
withdraw  as  having  "invaded  the  King  of  Great 
Britain's  territory."  To  which  the  Frenchman, 
an  old  officer  and  Knight  of  Saint  Louis,  Mr.  de 
Saint-Pierre,  who  shortly  before  had  been  leading 
an  exploration  in  the  extreme  West,  toward  the 
Rockies,2  politely  but  firmly  declined  to  assent, 

iaFor  my  own  part  I  can  answer  I  have  a  constitution  hardy 
enough  to  encounter  and  undergo  the  most  severe  trials  and,  I  flat- 
ter myself,  resolution  to  face  what  any  man  durst."  To  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  May  29,  1754. 

2  In  continuation  of  the  La  Verendrie's  (father  and  sons)  bold  at- 
tempt to  reach  the  great  Western  sea,  a  token  of  which,  a  leaden 


202         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

writing  back  to  the  governor:  "I  am  here  by  the 
orders  of  my  general,  and  I  entreat  you,  sir,  not 
to  doubt  but  that  I  shall  try  to  conform  myself 
to  them  with  all  the  exactness  and  resolution 
which  must  be  expected  from  a  good  officer." 
He  has  "much  the  air  of  a  soldier,"  Washington 
wrote  of  him. 

Mr.  de  Saint-Pierre  added,  on  his  part,  a  word 
on  the  bearer  of  Governor  Dinwiddie's  message, 
who  was  to  be  the  bearer  also  of  his  answer,  and 
in  this  we  have  the  first  French  comment  on 
Washington's  personality:  "I  made  it  my  par- 
ticular care  to  receive  Mr.  Washington  with  a 
distinction  suitable  to  your  dignity  as  well  as  to 
his  own  personal  merit. — From  the  Fort  on  the 
Riviere-aux-Bceufs,  December  15,  1753."  Hav- 
ing received  plentiful  supplies  as  a  gift  from  the 
French,  but  entertaining  the  worst  misgivings  as 
to  their  "artifices,"  the  young  officer  began  his 
return  journey,  during  which,  in  spite  of  all 
trouble,  he  managed  to  pay  a  visit  to  Queen 
Aliquippa:  ''I  made  her  a  present,"  he  wrote, 
"  of  a  match-coat  and  a  bottle  of  rum,  which  latter 
was  thought  much  the  best  present  of  the  two." 
On  the  1 6th  of  January,  1754,  he  was  back  at 
Williamsburg,  handed  to  the  governor  Mr.  de  Saint 

tablet  with  a  French  and  Latin  inscription  and  the  arms  of  France, 
was  recently  discovered  near  Fort  Pierre,  South  Dakota.  See  South 
Dakota  Historical  Collections,  1914,  pp.  89  ff. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH          203 

Pierre's  negative  answer,  and  printed  an  account 
of  his  journey.1 

The  second  expedition,  a  military  one,  was 
marked  next  year  by  the  sad  and  famous  Jumon- 
ville  incident  and  by  the  surrendering,  to  the 
brother  of  dead  Jumonville,  of  Fort  Necessity, 
where  the  subjects  of  King  George  and  their 
youthful  colonel,  after  a  fight  lasting  from  eleven 
in  the  morning  till  eight  in  the  evening,  had  to 
capitulate,  being  permitted,  however,  by  the 
French  to  withdraw  with  "full  military  honors, 
drum-beating,  and  taking  with  them  one  small 
piece  of  ordnance. "  (July  3,  1754.)  The  fort  and 
the  rest  of  the  artillery  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  captors,  as  well  as  part  of  that  diary  which, 
although  with  interruptions,  Washington  was  fond 
of  keeping,  whenever  he  could,  his  last  entry  being 
dated  Friday,  December  13,  1799,  the  day  before 
his  death.  The  part  found  at  Fort  Necessity — 
March  31  to  June  27,  1754 — was  sent  to  Paris, 
translated  into  French,  printed  in  1756  by  the 
royal  government,2  and  the  text  given  in  Wash- 
ington's writings  is  only  a  retranslation  from 

1  The  Journal  of  Major  George  Washington,  sent  by  the  Hon.  Robert 
Dinwiddie,  Esq.,  his  Majesty's    Lieut. -Governor  and  Commander  in 
chief  of  Virginia,  to  the  commandant  of  the  French  forces  in  Ohio. 
Williamsburg,  1754. 

2  Memoire  contenant  le  precis  des  fails  avec  leurs  pieces  justificatives 
pour  servir  de  response  aux  observations  envoyees  par  les  ministres 
d'Angleterre  dans  les  cours  d1  Europe,  Paris,  1756. 


204         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

the  French,  the  original  English  not  having  been 
preserved. 

The  third  occasion  was  the  terrible  campaign 
of  1755,  which  ended  in  Braddock's  death  and  the 
defeat  of  the  English  regulars  on  the  Mononga- 
hela,  not  far  from  the  newly  built  Fort  Duquesne, 
later  Pittsburgh  (July  9).  Contrary  to  expecta- 
tion1 (there  being  "about  three  hundred  French 
and  Indians,"  wrote  Washington;  "our  numbers 
consisted  of  about  thirteen  hundred  well-armed 
men,  chiefly  regulars"2),  the  French  won  the 
day,  nearly  doing  to  death  their  future  com- 
mander-in-chief .  A  rumor  was  even  spread  that 
he  had  actually  succumbed  after  composing  a 
"dying  speech,"  and  Washington  had  to  write 
to  his  brother  John  to  assure  him  that  he  had  had 
as  yet  no  occasion  for  such  a  composition,  though 
very  near  having  had  it:  "By  the  all-power- 
ful dispensation  of  Providence,  I  have  been  pro- 
tected beyond  all  human  probability  and  expecta- 
tion; for  I  had  four  bullets  through  my  coat, 
and  two  horses  shot  under  me,  yet  escaped  unhurt, 
although  death  was  levelling  my  companions  on 
every  side  of  me.  We  have  been  most  scandal- 
ously beaten."3 

1  "As  to  any  danger  from  the  enemy,  I  look  upon  it  as  trifling." 
Washington  to  his  brother,  John,  May  14,  1755. 

2  Washington  to  Dinwiddie,  July  18,  1755. 

3  Same  date.     Washington  revisited  the  region  in  October,  1770, 
but  the  entries  in  his  journal  contain  no  allusion  to  previous  events: 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         205 

By  an  irony  of  fate,  in  this  expedition  against 
the  French,  in  which  George  Washington  acted 
as  aide-de-camp  to  the  English  general,  the  means 
of  transportation  had  been  supplied  by  Post- 
master Benjamin  Franklin. 

The  French  were  indubitably  different  from 
the  airy  fops  of  Addison's  Spectator,  but  they 
were  as  far  as  ever  from  commanding  young 
Washington's  sympathy.  It  was  part  of  his 
loyalism  to  hate  them  and  to  interpret  for  the 
worst  anything  they  could  do  or  say.  The 
master  of  an  ampler  vocabulary  than  he  is  some- 
times credited  with,  we  find  him  writing  to  Rich- 
ard Washington,  in  1757,  that  the  means  by 
which  the  French  maintain  themselves  in  the 
Ohio  Valley  are— "hellish."1 

"We  lodged  [at  Fort  Pitt]  in  what  is  called  the  town,  about  three 
hundred  yards  from  the  fort.  .  .  .  These  houses,  which  are  built 
of  logs,  and  ranged  into  streets,  are  on  the  Monongahela,  and,  I  sup- 
pose, may  be  twenty  in  number,  and  inhabited  by  Indian  traders, 
etc.  The  fort  is  built  on  the  point  between  the  rivers  Allegheny 
and  Monongahela,  but  not  so  near  the  pitch  of  it  as  Fort  Duquesne." 
1  To  Richard  Washington,  merchant,  London;  from  Fort  Loudoun, 
April  15,  1757.  The  same  letter  enlightens  us  as  to  Washington's 
tastes  concerning  things  material.  He  orders  "sundry  things"  to 
be  sent  him  from  London,  adding:  "Whatever  goods  you  may  send 
me  where  the  prices  are  not  absolutely  limited,  you  will  let  them  be 
fashionable,  neat  and  good  in  their  several  kinds."  Same  tastes 
shown  in  his  letter  to  Robert  Gary  and  Co.,  ordering  a  chariot  "in 
the  new  taste,  handsome,  genteel,  and  light,"  painted  preferably 
green,  but  in  that  he  would  be  "governed  by  fashion."  (June  6, 
1768.)  The  chariot  was  sent  in  September;  it  was  green,  "all  the 
framed  work  of  the  body  gilt,  handsome  scrawl,  shields,  ornamented 
with  flowers  all  over  the  panels." 


206         WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH 

A  few  years  later  the  tone  is  greatly  altered, 
not  yet  toward  the  French,  but  toward  the 
British  Government  and  King.  In  sad,  solemn 
words,  full  already  of  the  spirit  of  the  Washing- 
ton of  history,  he  warns  his  friend  and  neighbor 
George  Mason,  the  one  who  was  to  draw  the 
first  Constitution  of  Virginia,  of  the  great  crisis 
now  looming:  ''American  freedom"  is  at  stake; 
"it  seems  highly  necessary  that  something  should 
be  done  to  avert  the  stroke  and  maintain  the 
liberty  which  we  have  derived  from  our  ancestors. 
But  the  manner  of  doing  it,  to  answer  the  purpose 
effectually,  is  the  point  in  question. 

"That  no  man  should  scruple  or  hesitate  a  mo- 
ment to  use  a-ms  [sic]  in  defense  of  so  valuable  a 
blessing,  on  which  all  the  good  and  evil  of  life 
depends,  is  clearly  my  opinion.  Yet  a-ms,  I 
would  beg  leave  to  add,  should  be  the  last  resource, 
the  dernier  resort."  l  Absolutely  firm,  absolutely 
moderate,  such  was  Washington  to  continue  to 
the  end  of  the  impending  struggle,  and,  indeed, 
of  his  days.  The  life  of  the  great  Washington 
was  now  beginning. 

1  Mount  Vernon,  April  5,  1765. 


II 

Some  more  years  elapse,  and  when  the  curtain 
rises  again  on  scenes  of  war,  momentous  changes 
have  occurred.  To  the  last  hour  the  former 
officer  of  the  colonial  wars,  now  a  man  of  forty- 
two,  was  still  expressing  the  wish  "that  the  dis- 
pute had  been  left  to  posterity  to  determine:  but 
the  crisis  has  arrived  when  we  must  assert  our 
rights  or  submit  to  every  imposition  that  can  be 
heaped  upon  us,  till  custom  and  use  make  us 
as  tame  and  abject  slaves  as  the  blacks  we  rule 
over  with  such  arbitrary  sway."  It  was  hard  for 
him  to  reconcile  himself  to  the  fact  that  the  Eng- 
lish were  really  to  be  the  enemy;  he  long  tried  to 
believe  that  the  quarrel  was  not  with  England  and 
her  King,  but  only  with  the  ministry  and  their 
troops,  which  he  calls  the  "  ministerial. "  Writ- 
ing on  the  3ist  of  May,  1775,  from  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  attending  the  second  Continental 
Congress,  to  G.  W.  Fairfax  in  England,  he  gave 
him  an  account  of  the  clash  between  the  "pro- 
vincials" of  Massachusetts  and  "the  ministerial 
troops:  for  we  do  not,  nor  can  we  yet  prevail 
upon  ourselves  to  call  them  the  King's  troops."  l 

1  This  continued  until  the  proclamation  of  independence.  By 
letter  of  March  19,  1776,  Washington  notified  the  President  of  Con- 

207 


208         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

The  war  was  to  be,  in  his  eyes,  a  fratricidal 
one:  "Unhappy  it  is,  though,  to  reflect  that  a 
brother's  sword  has  been  sheathed  in  a  brother's 
breast,  and  that  the  once  happy  and  peaceful 
plains  of  America  are  either  to  be  drenched 
with  blood  or  inhabited  by  slaves.  Sad  alter- 
native! But  can  a  virtuous  man  hesitate  in  his 
choice?" 

Two  weeks  later  the  signer  of  this  letter  was 
appointed,  on  the  proposition  of  John  Adams,  of 
Massachusetts,  commander-in-chief  of  a  new  body 
of  troops  just  entering  history,  and  called  the 
"Continental  Army."  l  Braddock's  former  aide 
was  to  become  the  leader  of  a  yet  unborn  nation, 
in  an  eight -year  conflict  with  all-powerful  Britain, 
mistress  of  the  coasts,  mistress  of  the  seas. 

What  that  conflict  was,  and  what  the  results 
have  been,  all  the  world  knows.  There  were  sad 
days  and  bright  days;  there  were  Valley  Forge 
and  Saratoga.  "No  man,  I  believe,"  Washington 

gress  of  the  taking  of  Boston,  and  the  retreat  of  the  "ministerial 
army."  The  flag  of  the  "insurgents"  was  then  the  British  flag  with 
thirteen  white  and  red  stripes,  emblematic  of  the  thirteen  colonies. 
1  An.  appointment  accepted  in  a  characteristically  modest  spirit, 
as  shown  by  his  letter  to  his  "dear  Patsy,"  his  wife,  giving  her  the 
news,  and  that  to  Colonel  Bassett,  where  he  says:  "I  can  answer  but 
for  three  things,  a  firm  belief  in  the  justice  of  our  cause,  close  atten- 
tion in  the  prosecution  of  it,  and  the  strictest  integrity.  If  these 
cannot  supply  the  place  of  ability  and  experience,  the  cause  will 
suffer,  and,  more  than  probable,  my  character  along  with  it,  as 
reputation  derives  its  principal  support  from  success."  June  9, 
1775- 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         209 

wrote  concerning  his  own  fate,  "had  a  greater 
choice  of  difficulties."1 

The  French  had  ceased  by  then  to  inspire 
Washington  with  disdain  or  animosity;  he  was 
beginning  to  render  them  better  justice,  but  his 
heart  was  far  as  yet  from  being  won.  French 
volunteers  had  early  begun  to  flock  to  the  Ameri- 
can army,  some  of  them  as  much  an  encumbrance 
as  a  help.  "They  seem  to  be  genteel,  sensible 
men,"  wrote  Washington  to  Congress,  in  October, 
1776,  "and  I  have  no  doubt  of  their  making  good 
officers  as  soon  as  they  can  learn  so  much  of  our 
language  as  to  make  themselves  well  understood." 
One  of  them,  the  commander-in-chief  learned, 
was  a  young  enthusiast  who  had  left  wife  and 
child  to  serve  the  American  cause  as  a  volunteer, 
and  without  pay,  like  George  Washington  him- 
self. He  had  crossed  the  ocean,  escaping  the 
British  cruisers,  on  a  boat  called  La  Victoire,  he 
being  called  Lafayette.  One  more  encumbrance, 
audibly  muttered  the  general,  who  wrote  to  Ben- 
jamin Harrison:  "What  the  designs  of  Congress 
respecting  this  gentleman  were,  and  what  line  of 
conduct  I  am  to  pursue  to  comply  with  their 
design  and  his  expectation,  I  know  no  more  than 
the  child  unborn,  and  beg  to  be  instructed."  2 

"Give  me  a  chance,"   pleaded  Lafayette,  still 

JTo  his  brother,  John,  December  18,  1776. 
'August  19,  1777. 


210         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

in  Philadelphia ;  "  I  do  not  want  to  be  an  honorary 
soldier."  He  came  to  camp,  and  it  was  a  case 
of  friendship  at  first,  or  at  least  second,  sight, 
which  would  need  the  pen  of  a  Plutarch  to  be  told. 
In  August,  Washington  had  been  wondering  what 
to  do  with  the  newcomer.  On  the  ist  of  Novem- 
ber he  wrote  to  Congress:  "...  Besides,  he  is 
sensible,  discreet  in  his  manner,  has  made  great 
proficiency  in  our  language,  and  from  the  dis- 
position he  discovered  in  the  battle  of  Brandy- 
wine  possesses  a  large  share  of  bravery  and 
military  ardor." 

Then  it  was  that  Washington  had  a  chance  to 
learn  what  those  men  really  were  who  had  lodged 
so  many  bullets  in  his  coat  on  the  occasion  of 
Braddock's  defeat;  not  at  once,  but  by  degrees 
he  came  to  consider  that  one  peculiar  trait  in 
those  former  enemies  made  them  worthy  of  his 
friendship:  their  aptitude  for  disinterested  en- 
thusiasm for  a  cherished  idea. 

Not  at  once;  early  prejudices  and  associations 
had  left  on  him  too  deep  an  imprint  to  be  easily 
removed.  He  resisted  longer  than  old  Franklin, 
and  with  a  stifler  pen  than  that  of  the  Philadelphia 
sage  he  would  note  down  his  persisting  suspicions 
and  his  reluctance  to  admit  the  possibility  of 
generous  motives  inspiring  the  French  nation's 
policy.  "I  have  from  the  first,"  he  wrote,  in  1777, 
to  his  brother,  John,  "been  among  those  few 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         211 

who  never  built  much  upon  a  French  war.  I 
never  did  and  still  do  think  they  never  meant 
more  than  to  give  us  a  kind  of  underhand  assis- 
tance; that  is,  to  supply  us  with  arms,  etc.,  for  our 
money  and  trade.  This  may,  indeed,  if  Great 
Britain  has  spirit  and  strength  to  resent  it,  bring 
on  a  war;  but  the  declaration  of  it  on  either 
side  must,  I  am  convinced,  come  from  the  last- 
mentioned  Power."  It  was  not,  however,  to  be  so. 

Even  after  France  alone  had  recognized  the 
new  nation,  and  she  had  actually  begun  war  on 
England,  Washington  remained  unbending,  his 
heart  would  not  melt.  "Hatred  of  England," 
he  wrote,  "may  carry  some  into  an  excess  of  con- 
fidence in  France.  ...  I  am  heartily  disposed 
to  entertain  the  most  favorable  sentiments  of  our 
new  ally,  and  to  cherish  them  in  others  to  a  reason- 
able degree.  But  it  is  a  maxim  founded  on  the 
universal  experience  of  mankind  that  no  nation 
is  to  be  trusted  farther  than  it  is  bound  by  its 
interest,  and  no  prudent  statesman  or  politician 
will  venture  to  depart  from  it."  1 

After  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  envoys 
had  been  sent  to  Europe  intrusted  with  the  mis- 
sion of  securing  the  alliance,  not  especially  of 
France,  but  of  all  nations  who  might  be  touched 
by  the  fate  of  the  struggling  colonists  and  inclined 
to  help  them  in  their  fight  for  liberty.  Some  of  the 

1  November  14,  1778. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

envoys  were  not  even  admitted  to  the  capitals  of 
the  countries  assigned  to  their  efforts;  others  re- 
ceived only  good  words. 

Sent  to  Prussia,  Arthur  Lee,  who  had  been 
previously  refused  admittance  to  Madrid,  could 
reach  the  capital  (June  4,  1777),  but  not  the 
King.  "There  is  no  name,"  Lee  wrote  appeal- 
ingly  to  the  monarch,  ' '  so  highly  respected  among 
us  as  that  of  your  Majesty.  Hence  there  is  no 
King  the  declaration  of  whose  friendship  would 
inspire  our  own  people  with  so  much  courage." 
But  the  King  would  not  be  persuaded;  he  re- 
fused all  help  in  "artillery,  arms,  and  money," 
though,  Lee  wrote  to  the  committee  of  foreign 
affairs,  "I  was  well  informed  he  had  a  consider- 
able sum  in  his  treasury."  Frederick  would  not 
relent,  giving  as  a  reason  that,  if  he  agreed,  the 
result  would  be  much  "inconvenience"  for  him- 
self. He  even  refused  to  receive  Lee,  whom  he, 
however,  allowed  to  see  his  army:  a  mechanism 
without  peer,  the  American  envoy  wrote  to  Wash- 
ington, but  only  a  mechanism: 

"The  Prussian  army,  which  amounts  to  220,000 
horse  and  foot,  are  disciplined  by  force  of  hourly 
exercise  and  caning  to  move  with  a  rapidity  and 
order  so  as  to  certainly  exceed  any  troops  in 
Europe."  They  practise  each  day:  "Every  man 
is  filed  off  singly,  and  passes  in  review  before 
different  officers,  who  beat  his  limbs  into  the  posi- 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         213 

tion  they  think  proper,  so  that  the  man  appears 
to  be  purely  a  machine  in  the  hand  of  a  work- 
man." 1 

The  furthest  Frederick  consented  to  go  was  to 
cause  Lee  to  be  assured,  when  he  left  Prussia  the 
following  month  (July,  1777),  that  he  would  al- 
ways receive  with  pleasure  the  news  of  any  Eng- 
lish reverse. 

To  the  American  appeal  France  alone  answered, 
Adsum:  for  what  motives,  has  been  shown  above,2 
love  of  liberty  rather  than  hatred  of  England 
being  the  chief  reason,  and  the  rebellious  colonies 
being  popular  in  France  not  so  much  because  they 
wanted  to  throw  off  an  English  yoke  as  because 
they  wanted  to  throw  off  a  yoke. 

Up  to  the  time  when  Rochambeau  arrived 
Washington  had  seen  during  the  war  more  or  less 
numerous  specimens  of  the  French  race,  but  only 
isolated  specimens.  He  had  heard  of  what  they 
were  doing  as  soldiers  and  sailors,  without  him- 
self seeing  them  in  action.  As  gentlemen  and 

1  To  Washington,  June  15,  1777.     Same  impression  later  (1785) 
on  Lafayette,  who  saw  the  Prussian  grand  manoeuvres,  and   sent 
an  account  of  them  to  Washington:   "The  Prussian  army  is  a  per- 
fectly regular  piece  of  machinery.  .  .  .     All  the  situations  which 
may  be  imagined  in  war,  all  the  movements  which  they  may  cause, 
have  been  by  constant  habit  so  well  inculcated  in  their  heads  that 
all  those  operations  are  performed  almost  mechanically."     February 
8,   1786.      Memoires,  correspondence  et  manuscrits  du  General  La- 
fayette, Bruxelles,  1838,  I,  204. 

2  Pp.  loflf. 


214         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

soldiers  he  held  them,  at  that  date,  to  be  fit  rep- 
resentatives of  a  nation  "old  in  war,  very  strict 
in  military  etiquette,  and  apt  to  take  fire  where 
others  scarcely  seem  warmed." 1  He  noticed, 
however,  after  Savannah,  that  with  all  that 
warmth  they  could,  when  put  to  the  test,  prove 
steady,  level-headed,  and  careful  of  their  words: 
"While,"  he  said  to  General  Lincoln,  "I  regret 
the  misfortune,  I  feel  a  very  sensible  pleasure  in 
contemplating  the  gallant  behavior  of  the  offi- 
cers and  men  of  the  French  and  American  army; 
and  it  adds  not  a  little  to  my  consolation  to 
learn  that,  instead  of  the  mutual  reproaches  which 
often  follow  the  failure  of  enterprises  depending 
upon  the  co-operation  of  troops  of  different  na- 
tions, their  confidence  in  and  esteem  of  each 
other  is  increased."  2 

Concerning  the  French  as  sailors  Washington 
did  not  conceal,  however,  to  his  intimate  friends 
his  misgivings.  He  early  felt  that  the  issue  of 
the  whole  war  and  the  independence  of  his  coun- 
try might  depend  on  an  at  least  momentary 
domination  of  the  sea,  but  felt  great  doubt  as  to 
the  possibility  of  this  goal  being  reached.  "In 
all  probability,"  he  thought,  "the  advantage 
will  be  on  the  side  of  the  English.  And  then 
what  would  become  of  America  ?  We  ought  not 

^o  General  Sullivan,  September,  1778. 
2  December  12,  1779. 


WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH          215 

to  deceive  ourselves.  ...  It  is  an  axiom  that 
the  nation  which  has  the  most  extensive  com- 
merce will  always  have  the  most  powerful  marine. 
...  It  is  true,  France  in  a  manner  created  a 
fleet  in  a  very  short  space,  and  this  may  mislead 
us  in  the  judgment  we  form  of  her  naval  abilities. 
.  .  .  We  should  consider  what  was  done  by 
France  as  a  violent  and  unnatural  effort  of  the 
government,  which  for  want  of  sufficient  founda- 
tion cannot  continue  to  operate  proportionable 
effects."  Moreover,  though  "the  ability  of  her 
present  financier  (Necker)  has  done  wonders," 
France  is  not  a  rich  country.1 

When  Rochambeau  came  with  his  5,000  troops, 
on  Ternay's  fleet,  which  carried  numerous  naval 
officers  and  sailors  besides,  Washington  took,  so 
to  say,  personal  contact  with  France  herself,  and 
was  no  longer  dependent  upon  his  reading  of 
hostile  books,  his  souvenirs  of  the  colonial  wars, 
or  his  impression  from  acquaintanceship  with  sepa- 
rate individuals.  The  portraits  in  the  Spectator 
could  less  and  less  be  considered  as  portraits. 
Washington  found  himself  among  men  of  steady 
mind  and  courteous  manners,  noteworthy  not 
only  for  their  fighting  qualities,  but  their  sense  of 
duty,  their  patience  and  endurance,  their  desire 
to  do  well.  As  for  the  troops,  they  observed,  as 
is  well  known,  so  strict  a  discipline  that  the  in- 

xTo  President  Reed,  May  28,  1780. 


216         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

habitants,  who  expected  nothing  of  the  sort, 
rather  the  reverse,  were  astonished  and  delighted. 

Little  by  little  Washington's  heart  was  won. 
We  did  not,  in  that  war,  conquer  any  land  for 
ourselves,  but  we  conquered  Washington.  For 
some  time  more  he  remained  only  officially  ours; 
the  praise  bestowed  by  him  on  his  allies  and 
their  country  found  place  in  his  letters  to  them- 
selves, or  in  his  reports  to  Congress,  which  were, 
in  fact,  public  documents.  At  last  the  day  came 
when,  writing  only  for  himself,  in  a  journal 
not  meant  to  be  seen  by  anybody,  he  inscribed 
those  three  words:  "our  generous  allies."  That 
day,  May  i,  1781,  Washington's  heart  was  really 
won. 

From  that  moment  what  Washington  wrote 
concerning  the  French,  were  it  addressed  to  them- 
selves or  to  Congress,  can  be  taken  at  its  face 
value,  and  very  pleasant  reading  it  is  to  this 
day  for  the  compatriots  of  those  officers  and 
soldiers  who  had  the  great  man  for  their  com- 
mander-in-chief — such  statements  as  this  one, 
for  example,  sent  to  Congress  seven  days  before 
the  Yorktown  capitulation:  "I  cannot  but  ac- 
knowledge the  infinite  obligations  I  am  under  to 
his  Excellency,  the  Count  de  Rochambeau,  the 
Marquis  de  Saint-Simon,  commanding  the  troops 
from  the  West  Indies,  the  other  general  officers, 
and  indeed  the  officers  of  every  denomination  in 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         217 

the  French  army,  for  the  assistance  which  they 
afford  me.  The  experience  of  many  of  those 
gentlemen  in  the  business  before  us  is  of  the  ut- 
most advantage  in  the  present  operation.  .  .  . 
The  greatest  harmony  prevails  between  the  two 
armies.  They  seem  actuated  by  one  spirit,  that 
of  supporting  the  honor  of  the  allied  armies."  l 
When,  in  the  course  of  the  following  year,  the  two 
armies  which  have  never  met  since,  were  about 
to  part,  their  leader  thus  summed  up  his  impres- 
sions: "It  may,  I  believe,  with  much  truth  be 
said  that  a  greater  harmony  between  two  armies 
never  subsisted  than  that  which  has  prevailed 
between  the  French  and  Americans  since  the  first 
junction  of  them  last  year."  2 

By  the  beginning  of  1783  peace  and  American 
independence  had  been  practically  secured.  Wash- 
ington is  found  duly  solemnizing  the  anniversary 
of  the  French  alliance  which  had  rendered  those 
events  possible.  "I  intended,"  he  says  to  Gen- 
eral Greene,  "to  have  wrote  you  a  long  letter  on 
sundry  matters,  but  Major  Burnet  popped  in 
unexpectedly  at  a  time  when  I  was  preparing  for 
the  celebration  of  the  day,  and  was  just  going  to 
a  review  of  the  troops,  previous  to  the  feu  de  joie." 
The  orders  issued  by  him  on  the  occasion  read 
thus:  "The  commander-in-chief,  who  wishes  on 

1  "Before  York,"  October  12,  1781. 

2  To  Lafayette,  October  20,  1782. 


218         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

the  return  of  this  auspicious  day  to  diffuse  the 
feelings  of  gratitude  and  pleasure  as  extensively 
as  possible,  is  pleased  to  grant  a  full  and  free 
pardon  to  all  military  prisoners  now  in  confine- 
ment." l 

The  orderly  book  used  by  Washington  is  still 
in  existence,  and  from  it  we  learn  that  the  parole 
given  for  the  day  was  "America  and  France," 
and  the  countersigns,  "United,"  "Forever." 

February  6,  1783. 


Ill 

No  less  characteristic  of  Washington's  senti- 
ments thereafter  is  the  correspondence  continued 
by  him  with  a  number  of  French  people  when  the 
war  was  a  thing  of  the  past  and  no  further  help 
could  be  needed.  With  Rochambeau,  with  d'Es- 
taing,  Chastellux,  La  Luzerne,  then  ambassador 
in  London,  whom  he  had  seen  with  keen  regret 
leave  the  United  States,1  and,  of  course,  with 
Lafayette,  he  kept  up  a  correspondence  which 
affords  most  pleasant  reading:  a  friend  writes  to 
his  friends  and  tells  them  of  his  feelings  and  ex- 
pectations. The  attitude  of  France  at  the  peace 
is  the  subject  of  a  noble  letter  to  La  Luzerne: 
"The  part  your  Excellency  has  acted  in  the  cause 
of  America  and  the  great  and  benevolent  share 
you  have  taken  in  the  establishment  of  her  inde- 
pendence are  deeply  impressed  on  my  mind,  and 
will  not  be  effaced  from  my  remembrance,  or  that 

1  Sending  him  a  farewell  letter  in  which  he  said:  "You  may  rest 
assured  that  your  abilities  and  dispositions  to  serve  this  country 
were  so  well  understood,  and  your  service  so  properly  appreciated 
that  the  residence  of  no  public  minister  will  ever  be  longer  remembered 
or  his  absence  more  sincerely  regretted.  It  will  not  be  forgotten 
that  you  were  a  witness  to  the  dangers,  the  sufferings,  the  exertions 
and  the  successes  of  the  United  States  from  the  most  perilous  crises 
to  the  hour  of  triumph."  February  7,  1788. 

219 


220         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

of  the  citizens  of  America.  .  .  .  The  articles  of 
the  general  treaty  do  not  appear  so  favorable  to 
France,  in  point  of  territorial  acquisitions,  as 
they  do  to  the  other  Powers.1  But  the  magnani- 
mous and  disinterested  scale  of  action  which  that 
great  nation  has  exhibited  to  the  world  during 
this  war,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  peace,  will 
insure  to  the  King  and  nation  that  reputation 
which  will  be  of  more  consequence  to  them  than 
every  other  consideration."  2 

Washington  keeps  his  French  friends  aware  of 
the  progress  of  the  country  and  of  his  hopes  for 
its  greatness;  he  wants  to  visit  the  United  States 
to  the  limit  of  what  was  then  the  extreme  West. 
"Prompted  by  these  actual  observations,"  he 
writes  to  Chastellux,  "I  could  not  help  taking  a 
more  contemplative  and  extensive  view  of  the 
vast  inland  navigation  of  these  United  States 
from  maps  and  the  information  of  others,  and 
could  not  but  be  struck  with  the  immense  diffusion 
and  importance  of  it,  and  with  the  goodness  of 
that  Providence  which  has  dealt  her  favors  to  us 
with  so  profuse  a  hand.  Would  to  God  we  may 
have  wisdom  enough  to  improve  them.  I  shall 
not  rest  contented  till  I  have  explored  the  Western 

1  They  merely  sanctioned  some  territorial  exchanges  and  restitu- 
tions on  both  sides  in  the  colonies,  and  stipulated  that  the  British 
agent  in  Dunkirk,  who  had  been  expelled  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
would  not  return. 

2  March  29,  1783. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         221 

country  and  traversed  those  lines,  or  great  part 
of  them,  which  have  given  new  bounds  to  a  new 
empire."  1  To  La  Luzerne  he  wrote  some  years 
later:  "The  United  States  are  making  great  prog- 
ress toward  national  happiness,  and  if  it  is  not 
attained  here  in  as  high  a  degree  as  human  nature 
will  admit  of,  I  think  we  may  then  conclude  that 
political  happiness  is  unattainable."  2 

That  rest  for  which  Washington  had  been  long- 
ing ("I  pant  for  retirement,"  he  had  written  to 
Gary  in  June,  1782)  had  been  granted  him  by 
the  end  of  1783,  when,  the  definitive  treaty  having 
been  concluded,  he  had  resigned  his  commission 
in  the  hands  of  Congress,  at  Annapolis  on  the 
23d  of  December,  "bidding  an  affectionate  fare- 
well," he  said,  "to  this  august  body  under  whose 
orders  I  have  so  long  acted."  It  was  at  first 
difficult  for  him  to  enjoy,  in  his  dear  Mount  Ver- 
non,  that  so-much-desired  quiet  life,  and  "to  get 
the  better,"  he  wrote  to  General  Knox,  "of  my 
custom  of  ruminating  as  soon  as  I  waked  in  the 
morning  on  the  business  of  the  ensuing  day,  and 
of  my  surprise  at  finding,  after  revolving  many 
things  in  my  mind,  that  I  was  no  longer  a  public 
man,  nor  had  anything  to  do  with  public  transac- 
tions." But  he  soon  came  to  the  thorough  en- 

1  Princeton,  October  12,  1783.    He  started  for  that  journey  the 
following  autumn. 

2  September  10,  1791. 


222         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

joy  merit  of  his  peaceful  surroundings  and  happy 
family  life,  writing  about  his  new  existence  to 
Rochambeau  and  Lafayette,  not  without  a  tinge 
of  melancholy,  as  from  one  whose  life's  work  is 
a  thing  of  the  past.  To  the  man  of  all  men  for 
whom  his  manly  heart  felt  most  tenderness,  to 
Lafayette,  it  is  that  he  wrote  the  beautiful 
letter  of  February  i,  1784,  unaware  that  his  rest 
was  only  temporary,  and  that  he  was  to  become 
the  first  President  of  the  country  he  had  given 
life  to: 

"At  length,  my  dear  marquis,  I  am  become  a 
private  citizen  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  and 
under  the  shadow  of  my  own  vine  and  my  own 
fig-tree,  free  from  the  bustle  of  a  camp  and  the 
busy  scenes  of  public  life,  I  am  solacing  myself 
with  those  tranquil  enjoyments  of  which  the  sol- 
dier who  is  ever  in  pursuit  of  fame,  the  statesman 
whose  watchful  days  and  sleepless  nights  are 
spent  in  devising  schemes  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  his  own,  perhaps  the  ruin  of  other  countries, 
as  if  the  globe  was  insufficient  for  us  all  ...  can 
have  very  little  conception.  I  have  not  only  re- 
tired from  all  public  employments,  but  I  am  re- 
tiring within  myself,  and  shall  be  able  to  view 
•the  solitary  walk  of  private  life  with  heartfelt 
satisfaction.  Envious  of  none,  I  am  determined 
to  be  pleased  with  all;  and  this,  my  dear  friend, 
being  the  order  for  my  march,  I  will  move  gently 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         223 

down  the  stream  of  life  until  I  sleep  with  my 
fathers." 

With  Lafayette  the  great  man  unbends,  he 
becomes  affectionate,  poetical  as  in  the  passage 
just  quoted,  sometimes  even  jocose,  which  was 
so  rare  with  him.  He  wants  Madame  de  La- 
fayette to  come  to  America  and  visit  Mount 
Vernon,  saying  to  her:  "Your  own  doors  do  not 
open  to  you  with  more  readiness  than  mine 
would."  1  She  never  came,  but  her  husband  re- 
turned for  a  few  months,  the  same  year,  and  this 
was  the  first  of  his  two  triumphant  journeys  to 
the  freed  United  States;  it  was  then  that  he 
parted  at  Annapolis  from  his  chief,  never  to  see 
him  again;  a  very  sad  parting  for  both,  Washing- 
ton sending  him  from  Mount  Vernon,  in  time  for 
it  to  reach  him  before  he  sailed,  the  most  touching, 
perhaps,  of  all  his  letters: 

"In  the  moment  of  our  separation,  upon  the 
road  as  I  travelled,  and  every  hour  since,  I  have 
felt  all  that  love,  respect,  and  attachment  for  you 
which  length  of  years,  close  connection,  and  your 
merits  have  inspired  me.  I  often  asked  myself, 
when  our  carriages  separated,  whether  that  was 
the  last  sight  I  should  ever  have  of  you.  And 
though  I  wished  to  say,  no,  my  fears  answered, 
yes.  I  called  to  mind  the  days  of  my  youth  and 
found  they  had  long  since  fled,  to  return  no  more ; 

1  Mount  Vernon,  April  4,  1784. 


224         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

that  I  was  now  descending  the  hill  I  had  been 
fifty- two  years  climbing,  and  that,  though  I  was 
blessed  with  a  good  constitution,  I  was  of  a  short- 
lived family  and  might  soon  expect  to  be  entombed 
in  the  mansion  of  my  fathers.  These  thoughts 
darkened  the  shades  and  gave  a  gloom  to  the  pic- 
ture, and  consequently  to  my  prospect  of  seeing 
you  again.  But  I  will  not  repine;  I  have  had 
my  day."1 

A  portrait  of  Lafayette,  his  wife,  and  children 
was  received  the  following  year  by  Washington, 
and  caused  him  great  pleasure;  this,  he  said  to 
the  sender,  "I  consider  as  an  invaluable  present 
and  shall  give  it  the  best  place  in  my  house."2 

He  continued  to  the  end  to  be  Lafayette's  con- 
fidant and  adviser.  In  one  of  his  most  notable 
letters,  passing  judgment  on  the  great  warrior 
Frederick  II  and  on  his  brother,  Prince  Henry, 
whom  Lafayette  had  recently  visited,  he  clearly 
outlined  what  should  be  his  correspondent's  ideal 
as  to  the  government  of  men.  "To  be  received," 
he  says,  "by  the  King  of  Prussia  and  Prince 
Henry,  his  brother  (who  as  soldiers  and  politicians 
yield  the  palm  to  none),  with  such  marks  of 
attention  and  distinction,  was  as  indicative  of 
their  discernment  as  it  is  of  your  merit.  ...  It 
is  to  be  lamented,  however,  that  great  characters 

1  December  8,  1784.     Bayard  Tuckerman,  Lafayette,  1889,  I,  165. 

2  July  25,  1785. 


WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH         225 

are  seldom  without  a  blot.  That  one  man  should 
tyrannize  over  millions  will  always  be  a  shade  in 
that  of  the  former,  while  it  is  pleasing  to  hear 
that  due  regards  to  the  rights  of  mankind  is  char- 
acteristic of  the  latter." 

During  those  years  of  comparative  rest — only 
comparative,  for  he  had  to  receive  innumerable 
visitors,  to  answer  an  unbelievable  quantity  of 
letters,  because  everybody  wanted  his  counsels, 
to  take  part  in  the  framing  of  the  Constitution 
as  a  delegate  of  Virginia  in  1787 — his  fame  went 
on  increasing  in  France  from  whence  tokens  of 
admiration  came  for  him  of  every  kind,  some  noble, 
some  simple,  some  high-flown,  like  that  letter 
from  the  Chevalier  de  Lormerie,  who  made  bold 
to  ' '  present  a  Plan  of  Perpetual  Peace  to  a  general 
who  is  even  more  of  a  philosopher  than  a  warrior."1 

Besides  letters,  French  visitors  would  now  and 
then  appear  at  the  door  of  Mount  Vernon.  One 
did  so  by  appointment,  and  even  in  virtue  of  a 
law,  namely  Jean  Antoine  Houdon,  the  famous 
sculptor,  whose  coming  was  the  result  of  an  act 
passed  by  the  Assembly  of  Virginia,  prescribing 
"that  the  executive  be  requested  to  take  measures 
for  procuring  a  statue  of  General  Washington,  to 

1  "  Excellence,  Vos  vertus  ci viles  et  vos  talents  militaires  ont  donne" 
a  votre  patrie  la  liberte  et  le  bonheur;  mais  leur  influence  sur  celui 
du  globe  entier  est  encore  preferable  a  mes  yeux.  C'est  a  ce  grand 
but  que  tend  tout  homme  qui  se  sent  digne  d'arriver  a  rimmortalite," 
etc.  May  28,  1 789.  Papers  of  the  Continental  Congress,  LXXVIII, 
759,  Library  of  Congress. 


226         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

be  of  the  finest  marble  and  the  best  workman- 
ship." 

The  sculptor  might  be  of  any  nationality,  pro- 
vided he  were  the  best  alive.  "The  intention  of 
the  Assembly,"  the  Governor  informed  Jefferson, 
then  in  Paris,  "is  that  the  statue  should  be  the 
work  of  the  most  masterly  hand.  I  shall  therefore 
leave  it  to  you  to  find  out  the  best  in  any  of  the 
European  states."1  Once  more  it  was  France's 
good  fortune  to  be  able  to  answer,  Adsum. 

The  "executive,"  Governor  Harrison,  not  over- 
well  versed  in  matters  artistic,  had  thought  that 
all  a  sculptor  could  need  to  perform  his  task  was 
a  painted  portrait  of  the  model,  so  he  ordered  one 
from  Peale,  which  would,  he  thought,  enable  the 
artist  "to  finish  his  work  in  the  most  perfect 
manner."2  Houdon  decided  that  he  would  rather 
undertake  the  journey,  insisting  only  that,  as  he 
was  the  support  of  his  father,  mother,  and  sisters, 
his  life  be  insured,  a  condition  which,  owing  to 
the  risks,  was  not  fulfilled  without  difficulty.  It 
finally  was,  however,  so  that  we  know,  to  a  cent, 
what  the  life  of  the  great  sculptor  was  worth:  it 
was  worth  two  thousand  dollars. 

Houdon  came  on  the  same  ship  which  brought 

^une  22,  1784.  Jean  Antoine  Houdon,  by  C.  H.  Hart  and  Ed. 
Biddle,  Philadelphia,  1911,  p.  182. 

*Ibid.,  p.  189.  Peak's  full-length  portrait,  with  "a  perspective 
view  of  York  and  Gloucester,  and  the  surrender  of  the  British  army," 
price  thirty  guineas,  reached  Paris  in  April,  1785,  and  has  since 
disappeared. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         227 

back  Franklin  after  his  long  mission  to  France, 
and  he  reached  Mount  Vernon  on  October  2, 
1785,  having  been  preceded  by  a  letter,  in  which 
Jefferson  had  thus  described  him  to  Washington: 
"I  have  spoken  of  him  as  an  artist  only,  but  I 
can  assure  you  also  that,  as  a  man,  he  is  disin- 
terested, generous,  candid,  and  panting  for  glory; 
in  every  circumstance  meriting  your  good  opin- 
ion. " 1  He  remained  at  Mount  Vernon  a  fortnight, 
an  interpreter  having  been  provided  from  Alex- 
andria for  the  occasion.  The  antique  costume 
with  which  the  artist  and  the  model  had  been 
threatened  at  one  time  was  discarded;  Wash- 
ington was  represented,  not  as  a  Greek,  which  he 
was  not,  but  as  an  American  general,  which  he 
was,  the  size  being  ''precisely  that  of  life."  Any 
one  who  wants  to  see  with  his  eyes  George  Wash- 
ington, to  live  in  his  atmosphere,  to  receive  the 
moral  benefit  of  a  great  man's  presence,  has  only 
to  go  to  Richmond.  To  those  who  know  how  to 
listen  the  statue  will  know  how  to  speak.  No 
work  of  art  in  the  whole  United  States  is  of 
greater  worth  and  interest  than  this  one,  and  no 
copy  gives  an  adequate  idea  of  the  original,  copies 
being  further  from  the  statue  than  the  statue  was 
from  the  model.  One  must  go  to  Richmond. 

Unfortunately,  no  notes  on  his  journey,  and  on 
his  stay  at  Mount  Vernon,  were  left  by  Houdon. 

1  July  10,  1785.    Ibid.,  p.  191. 


228         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

As  was  usual  with  him,  what  he  had  to  say  he 
said  in  marble. 

Other  French  visitors  of  more  or  less  note  called 
at  Mount  Vernon.  Popular  in  France,  even  at 
the  time  of  their  worst  troubles,  when  failure 
seemed  threatening,  the  United  States  were  much 
more  so  now,  and  men  wanted  to  go  and  see  with 
their  own  eyes  what  was  the  power  of  liberty,  and 
whether  it  could,  as  reported,  transform  a  coun- 
try into  an  Eden,  and  cities  into  modern  "Sa- 
lentes."  The  year  of  the  alliance,  1778,  Sebas- 
tien  Mercier,  in  his  De  la  Litterature,  had  drawn 
up  a  picture  of  the  French  people's  expectation: 
11  Perhaps  it  is  in  America  that  the  human  race 
will  transform  itself,  adopt  a  new  and  sublime 
religion,  improve  sciences  and  arts,  and  become 
the  representative  of  the  nations  of  antiquity. 
A  haven  of  liberty,  Grecian  souls,  all  strong  and 
generous  souls  will  develop  or  meet  there,  and  this 
great  example  given  to  the  universe  will  show 
what  men  can  do  when  they  are  of  one  mind  and 
combine  their  lights  and  their  courage."  Tur- 
got,  as  mentioned  before,  had  written  in  the  same 
strain,  the  same  year.1 

The  results  of  the  war  had  increased  those 
hopes;  the  success  of  the  unprecedented  crusade 
for  liberty  caused  an  enthusiasm  which  found  its 
expression  in  verse  and  prose.  The  very  year  of 

1  Above,  p.  12. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         229 

the  treaty  securing  independence  an  epic  poem 
was  published,  written  in  French  Alexandrine 
verse,  divided  into  cantos,  adorned  with  all  the 
machinery  of  the  Greek  models,  Jupiter  and  the 
gods  playing  their  part: 

Ainsi  parla  des  Dieux  le  monarque  supreme 
— with  invocations  to  abstract  virtues: 

Fille  aimable  des  Dieux,  divine  Tolerance. 

Preceding  by  several  years  Joel  Barlow's  own, 
this  epic,  due  to  the  pen  of  L.  de  Chavannes  de 
La  Grandiere,  appeared  with  ample  annotations 
by  the  author  himself,  and  dedicated  to  John 
Adams,  under  the  title  of  UAmerique  Delivree.1 

The  new  Tasso,  who  justly  foresaw  the  immense 
influence  that  the  change  in  America  would  have 
on  Europe,  addressed,  in  tones  of  the  most  ardent 
admiration,  Washington  and  Congress: 

Illustre  Washington,  heros  dont  la  memoire 

Des  deux  mondes  venges  embellira  rhistoire; 

Toi  que  la  main  des  Dieux,  en  nos  siecles  pervers, 

Envoya  consoler,  etonner  Punivers 

Par  le  rare  assemblage  et  1'union  constante 

D'un  coeur  pur  et  sans  fard,  d'une  ame  bienfaisante, 

Aux  talents  de  Turenne,  aux  vertus  des  Catons, 

Et  qui  te  vois  plus  grand  que  les  deux  Scipions, 

Jouis  de  ton  triomphe,  admire  ton  ouvrage. 

Amsterdam,  1783.    The  author  is  strongly  anti-English  and  is 
indignant  at  the  "guilty  Anglomania"  still  existing  in  France. 


230         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

Congress  is  a  Greek  Areopagus,  whose  members 
have  Themis  and  Minerva  for  their  advisers: 

Auguste  Areopage,  ou  Minerve  elle-meme 

Prononce  avec  Themis  par  Porgane  supreme 

De  tant  de  Senateurs,  ornements  des  Etats, 

Une  foule  d'arrets  ou  tous  les  potentats 

Du  droit  des  nations  devraient  venir  apprendre 

Les  principes  sacres,  et  jusqu'ou  peut  s'etendre 

Le  sceptre  qu'en  leurs  mains  les  peuples  ont  commis, 

— you  have  cast  on  us  "a  torrent  of  light  and 
shown  us  how  to  break  the  detestable  bonds  of 
tyrants."  A  prophetical  foot-note,  commenting 
on  this  passage,  announces  that  ''this  will  per- 
haps, be  seen  sooner  than  one  thinks.  Happy 
the  sovereigns  who  will  know  how  to  be  nothing 
but  just,  pacific,  and  benevolent."  Six  years 
later  the  French  Revolution  began. 

Using  humble  prose,  but  reaching  a  much  wider 
public,  Lacretelle,  of  the  same  group  of  thinkers 
as  d'Alembert,  Condorcet,  and  Turgot,  himself 
later  a  member  of  the  French  Academy,  was  also 
writing  in  a  strain  of  exultant  admiration:  "Since 
Columbus's  discovery,  nothing  more  important 
has  happened  among  mankind  than  American  in- 
dependence' ' ;  and  addressing  the  new-born  United 
States,  he  told  them  of  the  world's  expectation 
and  of  their  own  responsibilities,  so  much  depend- 
ing on  their  success  or  failure:  "New-born  Re- 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         231 

publics  of  America,  I  salute  you  as  the  hope  of 
mankind,  to  which  you  open  a  refuge,  and  promise 
great  and  happy  examples.  Grow  in  force  and 
numbers,  amid  our  benedictions.  .  .  . 

"In  adopting  a  democratic  regime,  you  pledge 
yourself  to  steadfast  and  pure  morality.  .  .  . 
But  you  do  not  give  up  those  comforts  in  life, 
that  splendor  of  society  brought  with  them  by 
riches,  sciences,  and  arts.  .  .  .  The  vicinity  of 
corruption  will  not  alter  your  morals;  you  will 
allow  the  vicinity,  not  the  invasion.  While  per- 
mitting wealth  to  have  its  free  play,  you  will  see 
that  exorbitant  fortunes  be  dispersed,  and  you 
will  correct  the  great  inequality  in  enjoyments 
by  the  strictest  equality  in  rights.  .  .  . 

"Lawmaking  peoples,  never  lose  sight  of  the 
majesty  of  your  function  and  of  the  importance 
of  your  task.  Be  nobly  proud  and  holily  enthusi- 
astic at  the  prospect  of  your  destinies'  vast  influ- 
ence. By  you  the  universe  is  held  in  expectation; 
fifty  years  from  now  it  will  have  learned  from  you 
whether  modern  peoples  can  preserve  republican 
constitutions,  whether  morals  are  compatible  with 
the  great  progress  of  civilization,  and  whether 
America  is  meant  to  improve  or  to  aggravate  the 
fate  of  humanity."  l 

1  In  the  Mercure  de  France,  1785,  prefacing  a  review  of  CrSvecoeur's 
Letters  from  an  American  Farmer,  and  reproduced  at  the  beginning  of 
the  French  edition  of  the  Letters,  1787. 


232         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

This  sense  of  the  responsibility  of  the  new  re- 
public toward  mankind  of  the  future,  and  of  the 
importance  for  all  nations  of  its  success  or  failure 
caused  French  thinkers  to  concern  themselves 
with  the  problem,  to  express  faith  and  admira- 
tion, but  to  submit  also  such  recommendations 
as  their  studies  of  humanity's  past  made  them 
consider  of  use.  The  Observations  on  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  Laws  of  the  United  States,  of  modest, 
liberal,  and  noble-minded  Abbe  de  Mably,  are, 
for  example,  the  outcome  of  such  reflections.1 

The  visitor  most  representative  of  the  views 
thus  prevalent  in  the  French  nation,  knocked  at 
the  gate  of  Mount  Vernon,  provided  with  that 
infallible  open  sesame,2  a  letter  of  introduction 
from  Lafayette.  "This  gentleman,"  the  letter 
read,  "intends  to  write  a  history  of  America,  and 
you  would,  therefore,  make  him  very  happy  if 

1  Observations  sur  le  gouvernement  et  les  loix  des  Etats  Unis  d'Ame'ri- 
que,  Amsterdam,  1784,  i2mo;   in  the  form  of  letters  to  John  Adams. 
The  Constitutions  under  discussion  are  those  of  the  original  States. 
"Tandis,"  says  Mably,  "que  presque  toutes  les  nations  de  1'Europe 
ignorent  les  principes  constitutifs  de  la  societe"  et  ne  regardent  les 
citoyens  que  comme  les  bestiaux  d'une  ferme  qu'on  gouverne  pour 
1'avantage  particulier  du  proprietaire,  on  est  e'tonne,  on  est  e"difie 
que  vos  treize  Republiques  ayent  connu  a  la  f ois  la  dignite  de  1'homme 
et  soient  alle  puiser  dans  les  sources  de  la  plus  sage  philosophic  les 
principes  humains  par  lesquels  elles  veulent  se  gouverner."     (P.  2.) 

2  Wanting,  on  his  return  to  America,  to  make  Washington's  ac- 
quaintance,   Franklin's   own   grandson   called    similarly   provided. 
Lafayette  to  Washington,  warmly  praising  the  young  man,  July  14, 
1785.     Memoires,  correspondence  et  manuscrits  du  General  Lafayette, 
publics  par  sa  Famille,  Brussels,  1837,  I,  201. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         233 

you  allowed  him  to  glance  at  your  papers.  He 
seems  to  deserve  this  favor,  since  he  loves  America 
very  much,  writes  well,  and  will  represent  things 
under  their  true  light."  l 

The  bearer,  a  sincere  admirer  and  friend  of 
the  new  republic,  and  who  had  the  advantage  of 
speaking  English  fluently,  was  Brissot,  so  famous 
shortly  after  for  the  part  he  played  in  the  French 
Revolution,  then  already  penetrated  with  its  prin- 
ciples, and  having  written,  young  as  he  was,  on 
the  reform  of  criminal  laws,  declared  in  favor 
of  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews,  founded  a 
"Society  of  the  Friends  of  the  Blacks  "  and,  what 
is  more  to  the  point,  a  Societe  Gallo-Americaine, 
first  of  its  kind,  for  the  members  thereof  to  "ex- 
change views  on  the  common  interests  of  France 
and  the  United  States."  To  become  a  member 
one  had  to  prove  "able  and  willing  to  bring  to  the 
notice  of  the  others  universal  ideas  on  the  happi- 
ness of  man  and  societies,  because,  though  its 
special  and  titular  object  be  the  interest  of  France 
and  the  United  States,  nevertheless,  it  fully  em- 
braces in  its  considerations  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind."2 In  which  appears  the  vastness  of  hu- 
manitarian plans  so  fondly  cherished  among  us — 
six  years  before  the  Reign  of  Terror. 

JMay  25,  1788.    J.  P.  Brissot,  Correspondence  el  Papiers,  ed. 
Perroud,  Paris,  1912,  p.  192. 
a  1787.    Text  of  the  reports  of  the  sittings.     Ibid.,  pp.  105  ff. 


234         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

The  "particular  object"  of  the  association  was, 
however,  to  "help  the  two  countries  to  better 
know  each  other,  which  can  only  be  realized  by 
bringing  nearer  together  the  French  individual 
and  the  American  individual."  Books  were  to 
be  published  by  the  society,  the  first  one  to  be 
dedicated  "to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
and  the  friends  of  America  in  the  two  worlds." 
Newspapers,  books,  the  texts  of  laws,  the  journals 
of  Congress  were  to  be  imported  from  "free 
America."  The  society  would  "welcome  Amer- 
icans whom  their  business  should  call  to  France, 
and  whose  knowledge  would  enable  them  to  im- 
part useful  information  there";  nothing  more 
natural,  since  the  aim  of  the  society  was  "the 
welfare  of  the  two  nations."  Lafayette  and  Jef- 
ferson had  been  asked  to  join.  One  of  the  found- 
ers was  Saint-Jean  de  Crevecceur,  already  known 
by  his  Letters  from  an  American  Farmer,  who 
when  he  left  France  to  return  to  the  United 
States  was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  "making 
the  society  known  to  the  Americans,  availing 
himself  of  newspapers,  or  of  other  means;  his 
expenses,  if  any,  to  be  repaid."1  But  the  farmer- 
consul,  very  active  in  other  matters,  proved  in 
this  one  very  remiss. 

Brissot  reached  Boston  in  July,  1788,  and 
found  that  America  was  exactly  what  he  had  ex- 

llbid.,  pp.  114,  116,  126,  127,  136. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         235 

pected  it  to  be:  "Sanctuary  of  liberty,"  he  wrote 
on  landing,  "I  salute  thee  !  .  .  .  Would  to  heaven 
thou  wert  nearer  Europe;  fewer  friends  of  liberty 
would  vainly  bewail  its  absence  there."  The  in- 
habitants, he  wrote,  "have  an  air  of  simplicity 
and  kindness,  but  they  are  full  of  human  dignity, 
conscious  of  their  liberty,  and  seeing  in  all  men 
their  brothers  and  equals.  ...  I  thought  I  was 
in  that  Salente,  so  attractively  depicted  by 
Fenelon." 

Equality  is  what  strikes  him  most,  as  it  does  the 
mass  of  his  compatriots ;  this  was  the  particularly 
American  trait  which,  as  mentioned  before,  was 
imported  from  the  United  States  into  France  on 
the  eve  of  our  Revolution. 

Luxury,  the  visitor  admits,  is,  of  course,  a 
danger;  but  they  know  it  and  arm  against  it: 
"The  most  respectable  inhabitants  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  have  formed  a  society  to  pre- 
vent the  increase  of  luxury" — an  attempt  which, 
however,  never  succeeded,  but  at  Salente. 

After  having  seen  the  chief  cities  and  paid  a 
visit  to  Franklin,  found  very  ill  but  with  his 
great  mind  unimpaired,  Brissot  reached  Mount 
Vernon  in  November,  and  remained  there  three 
days.  Different  from  Houdon,  he  luckily  took 
notes  on  the  place  and  on  the  inhabitants  thereof : 
"The  general  arrived  only  in  the  evening;  he  re- 
turned very  tired  from  a  tour  over  part  of  his 


236          WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

domains  where  he  was  having  a  road  traced. 
You  have  often  heard  him  compared  to  Cin- 
cinnatus;  the  comparison  is  a  just  one.  This 
celebrated  general  is  now  but  a  good  farmer,  ever 
busy  with  his  farm,  as  he  calls  it,  improving  cul- 
tivation and  building  barns.  He  showed  me  one 
of  enormous  dimensions,  just  being  erected  from 
a  plan  sent  him  by  the  famous  English  agricul- 
turist Arthur  Young,  but  greatly  improved  by 
him.  .  .  . 

"All  is  simple  in  the  house  of  the  general.  His 
table  is  good,  without  luxury ;  regularity  is  every- 
where apparent  in  his  domestic  economy.  Mrs. 
Washington  has  her  eye  on  everything,  and  joins 
to  the  qualities  of  an  excellent  housekeeper  the 
simple  dignity  which  befits  a  woman  whose  hus- 
band has  played  a  great  role.  She  adds  to  it 
that  amenity,  those  attentions  toward  strangers 
which  lend  so  much  sweetness  to  hospitality. 
The  same  virtues  shine  in  her  niece,  so  interest- 
ing, but  who,  unluckily,  seems  to  be  in  a  very 
delicate  state  of  health." 

As  for  the  general  himself,  "kindness  appears 
in  his  looks.  His  eyes  have  no  longer  that  lustre 
which  his  officers  noticed  when  he  was  at  the  head 
of  his  army,  but  they  get  enlivened  in  conversa- 
tion. .  .  .  Good  sense  is  the  dominant  trait  in 
in  all  his  answers,  great  discretion  and  diffidence 
of  himself  goes  with  it,  and  at  the  same  time  a 


WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH          237 

firm  and  unshakable  disposition  when  he  has  once 
made  up  his  mind." 

His  modesty  is  great :  ' '  He  talks  of  the  American 
war  as  if  he  had  not  been  the  leader  thereof,  and 
of  his  victories  with  an  indifference  which  strangers 
could  not  equal.  .  .  .  The  divisions  in  his  coun- 
try break  his  heart ;  he  feels  the  necessity  of  call- 
ing together  all  the  friends  of  liberty  around  one 
central  point,  the  need  of  imparting  energy  to 
the  government.  He  is  still  ready  to  give  up 
that  quiet  which  causes  his  happiness.  ...  He 
spoke  to  me  of  Mr.  de  Lafayette  with  emotion; 
he  considers  him  as  his  child." 

Not  only  on  agriculture  and  government,  but 
also  on  manners  the  future  President  gave  his 
visitor  much  information:  "The  general  told  me 
that  a  great  reform  was  going  on  among  his  com- 
patriots ;  people  drank  much  less ;  they  no  longer 
forced  their  guests  to  drink;  it  had  ceased  to  be 
good  form  to  send  them  home  inebriated;  those 
noisy  parties  at  taverns  so  frequent  in  former 
times  were  not  to  be  the  fashion  any  more;  dress 
was  becoming  simpler." 

On  receiving  news  of  the  convocation  of  the 
French  States  General,  Brissot,  who  felt  that  this 
was  the  beginning  of  immense  changes,  hastened 
back  to  France  and  published  an  account  of  his 
journey.  He  stated  in  his  preface,  written  in 
1790,  why  he  had  undertaken  it,  and  what  lessons 


238         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

we  might  learn  from  our  neighbors  of  over  the 
sea: 

"The  object  of  this  journey  has  not  been  to 
study  antique  statues,  or  to  find  unknown  plants, 
but  to  observe  men  who  had  just  conquered  their 
liberty :  to  Frenchmen  free  men  can  no  longer  be 
strangers. 

' '  We,  too,  have  conquered  our  liberty.  We  have 
not  to  learn  from  Americans  how  to  conquer  it, 
but  how  to  preserve  it.  This  secret  consists 
especially  in  morality.  .  .  .  What  is  liberty  ?  It 
is  the  most  perfect  state  of  society,  a  state  in 
which  man  depends  only  upon  the  laws  made  by 
himself;1  and  to  make  good  ones,  he  must  improve 
his  reason;  and  to  apply  them  he  must  again 
have  recourse  to  his  reason.  .  .  .  Morals  are  but 
reason  applied  to  all  the  acts  of  life.  .  .  .  They 
are  among  free  men  what  irons,  whipping-posts, 
and  gibbets  are  among  peoples  in  slavery.  .  .  . 
This  journey  will  show  you  the  wondrous  effects 
of  liberty  on  morals,  on  industry,  and  on  the  ameli- 
oration of  men.  .  .  .  My  desire  has  been  to  de- 
pict to  my  compatriots  a  people  with  whom  it 
behooves,  from  every  point  of  view,  that  they  be- 
come intimately  united."  2 

1 "  Under  that  name  of  liberty  the  Romans,  as  well  as  the  Greeks, 
pictured  to  themselves  a  state  where  no  one  was  subject  save  to  the 
law,  and  where  law  was  more  powerful  than  men."  (Bossuet.) 

2  Nouveau  Voyage  dans  les  Etats  Unis  de  VAmtrique  Septentri- 
onale,  Paris,  3  vols.,  April,  1791,  but  begun  to  be  printed,  as  shown 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         239 

by  a  note  to  the  preface,  in  the  spring  of  1790.  The  work  greatly 
helped  to  make  America  better  and  very  favorably  known  in  Europe, 
for  it  was  translated  into  English,  German,  and  Dutch.  While 
Brissot  was  returning  to  France  (January,  1789),  his  brother-in-law, 
Francois  Dupont,  was  sailing  for  the  United  States,  to  settle  there 
among  free  men  and,  scarcely  landed,  was  writing  to  a  Swiss  friend 
of  his,  Jeanneret,  who  lived  in  Berlin,  of  his  delight  at  having  left 
"a  small  continent  like  that  of  Europe,  partitioned  among  a  quan- 
tity of  petty  sovereigns  bent  upon  capturing  each  other's  posses- 
sions, causing  their  subjects  to  slaughter  one  another,  in  ceaseless 
mutual  fear,  busy  tightening  their  peoples'  chains  and  impoverishing 
them — and  I  am  now  on  a  continent  which  reaches  from  pole  to 
pole,  with  every  kind  of  climate  and  of  productions,  among  an  in- 
dependent nation  which  is  now  devising  for  itself,  in  the  midst  of 
peace,  the  wisest  of  governments.  We  are  not  governed  here  by 
a  foolish  or  despotic  sovereign.  .  .  .  Farmers,  craftsmen,  merchants, 
and  manufacturers  are  encouraged  and  honored;  they  are  the  true 
nobles.  .  .  .  Between  the  man  who  sells  his  labor  and  the  one 
who  buys  it  the  agreement  is  between  equals.  The  French  are, 
however,  very  popular  in  this  country."  Brissot,  Correspondancey 
ed.  Perroud,  pp.  218,  219. 


IV 

During  the  early  stages  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, Washington  had  followed  with  the  keenest 
sympathy  and  anxiety  the  efforts  of  our  ances- 
tors, taking  pride  in  the  thought  that  the  Ameri- 
can example  had  something  to  do,  as  it  un- 
doubtedly had,  with  what  was  happening.  "The 
young  French  nobility  enrolled  for  the  cause  of 
[American]  independence,"  wrote  Talleyrand  in  his 
memoirs,  "attached  itself  afterward  to  the  prin- 
ciples it  had  gone  to  fight  for."  Pontgibaud,  who 
remained  a  royalist,  who  hated  the  Revolution  and 
became  an  emigre,  observes  the  same  fact,  although 
deploring  what  occurred:  "The  officers  of  Count 
de  Rochambeau  had  nothing  better  to  do  [after 
Yorktown],  I  believe,  than  to  visit  the  country. 
When  one  thinks  of  the  false  ideas  of  government 
and  philanthrophy  with  the  virus  of  which  these 
youths  were  infected  in  America,  and  which  they 
were  to  enthusiastically  propagate  in  France,  with 
such  lamentable  success — since  that  mania  for 
imitation  has  powerfully  helped  toward  the  Revo- 
lution, without  being  its  unique  cause — people 
will  agree  that  all  those  red-heeled  young  philos- 
ophers had  much  better,  for  their  sake  and  ours, 
have  stayed  at  court.  .  .  .  Each  of  them  fan- 

240 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         241 

cied  he  would  be  called  upon  to  play  the  part  of 
Washington."  Asked  to  join  Lafayette  and 
"his  former  brothers-in-arms  of  beyond  the  sea," 
he  refused:  "It  has  been  justly  said  that  in  a 
revolution  the  difficulty  lies  not  in  doing  one's 
duty,  but  in  knowing  where  it  is.  I  did  mine 
because  I  knew  where  it  was,"  and  he  joined  the 
princes  and  emigrated.1 

Of  this  American  influence  Washington  was 
aware,  and  spoke,  as  may  be  surmised,  in  terms 
nearer  those  of  Talleyrand  than  those  of  Pont- 
gibaud.  "I  am  glad  to  hear,"  he  wrote  to  Jeffer- 
son, "that  the  Assemblee  des  Notables  has  been 
productive  of  good  in  France.  .  .  .  Indeed  the 
rights  of  mankind,  the  privileges  of  the  people, 
and  the  true  principles  of  liberty  seem  to  have  been 
more  generally  discussed  and  better  understood 
throughout  Europe  since  the  American  Revolution 
than  they  were  at  any  former  period."  2 

Few  of  Washington's  observations  are  a  greater 
credit  to  him,  as  a  statesman,  than  those  con- 
cerning this  extraordinary  upheaval.  From  the 
first  he  felt  that  the  change  would  not  prove  a 
merely  local  one,  but  would  have  world- wide  con- 
sequences; that,  in  fact,  a  new  era  was  beginning 
for  mankind.  "A  spirit  for  political  improve- 

1  Memoir es  du   [Chevalier  de  Pontgibaud]  Comte   de  Mor&,   1827, 
pp.  105,  132.     Writing  at  that  date,  Lafayette's  former  companion 
thought  that  monarchy  had  been  re-established  in  France  forever. 

2  January  i,  1788. 


242         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

ments  seems  to  be  rapidly  and  extensively  spread- 
ing through  the  European  countries,"  he  wrote 
to  La  Luzerne.  "I  shall  rejoice  in  seeing  the 
condition  of  the  human  race  happier  than  ever 
it  has  been."  But  let  the  people  at  the  helm  be 
careful  not  to  make  "more  haste  than  good  speed 
in  their  innovations."  l 

No  less  clearly  did  he  foresee,  long  before  the 
event,  and  when  all  was  hope  and  rejoicing,  that 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  count  upon  a  peace- 
ful, gradual,  and  bloodless  development  where  so 
many  long-established,  hatred-sowing  abuses  had 
to  be  corrected.  This,  however,  was  what,  as  a 
friend  of  France,  he  would  have  liked  to  see,  and 
even  before  the  Revolution  had  really  started  he 
had  expressed  to  Lafayette,  in  striking  words,  his 
wish  that  it  might  prove  a  "tacit"  one:  "If  I 
were  to  advise,  I  should  say  that  great  modera- 
tion should  be  used  on  both  sides.  .  .  .  Such  a 
spirit  seems  to  be  awakened  in  the  kingdom  as,  if 
managed  with  extreme  prudence,  may  produce  a 
gradual  and  tacit  revolution,  much  in  favor  of  the 
subjects."2 

The  movement  is  started,  the  Bastile  falls,  and 
Lafayette  sends  the  key  thereof  to  his  former 
chief.  "It  is  a  tribute,"  he  wrote,  "which  I  owe 
as  a  son  to  my  adopted  father,  as  an  aide-de- 
camp to  my  general,  as  a  missionary  of  liberty  to 

JNew  York,  April  29,  1790.  2  June  i8;  1788. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         243 

its  patriarch."  Washington  placed  the  key  at 
Mount  Vernon,  where  it  is  still,  and  returned 
thanks  for  this  * '  token  of  victory  gained  by  liberty 
over  despotism."  1 

The  beginnings  were  promising.  The  great 
leader  was  full  of  admiration,  of  awe,  of  appre- 
hension. To  Gouverneur  Morris,  then  American 
minister  to  France,  President  Washington,  as  he 
now  was,  wrote  on  the  i3th  of  October,  1789,  in 
these  prophetic  terms:  "The  Revolution  which 
has  been  effected  in  France  is  of  so  wonderful  a 
nature  that  the  mind  can  hardly  realize  the  fact. 
If  it  ends  as  our  last  accounts  to  the  ist  of 
August  predict,  that  nation  will  be  the  most 
powerful  and  happy  in  Europe ;  but  I  fear,  though 
it  has  gone  triumphantly  through  the  first  par- 
oxysm, it  is  not  the  last  it  has  to  encounter  be- 
fore matters  are  finally  settled.  In  a  word,  the 
Revolution  is  of  too  great  a  magnitude  to  be 
effected  in  so  short  a  space,  and  with  the  loss  of 
so  little  blood.  The  mortification  of  the  King, 
the  intrigues  of  the  Queen,  and  the  discontent  of 
the  princes  and  the  noblesse  will  foment  divi- 
sions, if  possible,  in  the  National  Assembly." 
The  "licentiousness  of  the  people"  is  not  less  to 
be  feared.  "To  forbear  running  from  one  ex- 

1  March  17,  1790;  August  n,  1790.  The  key  is  the  one  which  gave 
access  to  the  main  entrance;  those  at  the  Carna valet  Museum  in 
Paris  opened  the  several  towers. 


244         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

treme  to  the  other  is  no  easy  matter;  and  should 
this  be  the  case,  rocks  and  shoals,  not  visible  at 
present,  may  wreck  the  vessel.''1 

The  grandeur  and  importance  of  the  change 
fills  him,  in  the  meanwhile,  with  wonder.  In  his 
before-quoted  letter  of  April  29,  1790,  to  La 
Luzerne  he  said:  "Indeed,  the  whole  business  is 
so  extraordinary  in  its  commencement,  so  wonder- 
ful in  its  progress,  and  may  be  so  stupendous  in 
its  consequences  that  I  am  almost  lost  in  the  con- 
templation. Of  one  thing,  however,  you  may  rest 
perfectly  assured,  that  nobody  is  more  anxious 
for  the  happy  issue  of  that  business  than  I  am, 
as  nobody  can  wish  more  sincerely  for  the  pros- 
perity of  the  French  nation  than  I  do."  To  an- 
other correspondent,  Mrs.  Graham,  he  described 
"the  renovation  of  the  French  Constitution,"  as 
"one  of  the  most  wonderful  events  in  the  history 
of  mankind."  So  late  as  the  2oth  of  October, 
1792,  he  was  writing  to  Gouverneur  Morris:  "We 
can  only  repeat  the  sincere  wish  that  much  hap- 
piness may  arise  to  the  French  nation  and  to 
mankind  in  general  out  of  the  severe  evils  which 
are  inseparable  from  so  important  a  revolution." 

1  To  this  remarkable  forecast  of  the  Terror,  and  of  the  ruin  of  such 
great  hopes,  Jared  Sparks,  in  his  edition  of  the  Writings,  caused 
Washington  to  add  a  prophecy  of  Napoleon's  rule,  described  as  a 
"higher-toned  despotism  than  the  one  which  existed  before."  But 
this  is  one  of  the  embellishments  which  Sparks,  who  prophesied  d  coup 
stir,  since  he  wrote  after  the  events,  thought  he  was  free  to  introduce 
in  the  great  man's  letters. 


WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH         245 

Throughout  the  unparalleled  crisis,  the  French 
friends  of  Washington  kept  him  informed  of 
events,  of  their  hopes  and  fears.  Lafayette's  let- 
ters have  been  printed;  those  of  Rochambeau, 
written  in  his  own  English,  have  not,  and  many 
of  them  are  of  great  interest.  The  French  gen- 
eral had  early  foreseen  the  necessity  for  profound 
changes,  owing  to  abuses,  to  the  excessive  privi- 
leges of  the  few,  the  burdens  of  the  many,  the 
increasing  maladministration,  especially  since 
Necker  had  been  replaced  by  "a  devil  of  fool 
named  Calonne."1  Maybe  the  States  General 
will  provide  an  adequate  remedy,  by  devising  a 
constitution:  "I  hope  very  much  of  this  General 
States  to  restore  our  finances  and  to  consolidate  a 
good  constitution."2  But  he  has  doubts  as  to 
what  "aristocratical  men"  will  do. 

Himself  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  Rocham- 
beau considers  that  there  are  not,  in  reality, 
three  orders — the  nobles,  the  clergy,  and  the 
third  estate — but  two:  "the  privileged  people  and 
the  unprivileged."  The  vote  being,  in  accor- 
dance with  law  and  custom,  taken  per  estate  or 
order,  the  two  privileged  ones  always  vote  in  the 
same  way  and  can  ever  prevail.  Rochambeau  in- 
forms Washington  that,  as  for  himself,  he  "voted 
in  favor  of  the  equal  representation  of  the  third 

1  Paris,  May  12,  1787.     Washington  papers,  Library  of  Congress. 

2  Calais,  April  3,  1789. 


246         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

order;  your  pupil  Lafayette  has  voted  for  the 
same  opinion,  as  you  may  believe  it;  but  we  have 
here  a  great  number  of  aristocratical  men  that 
are  very  interested  to  perpetuate  the  abuses."  l 

He  agrees  with  Washington  that,  in  order  to 
reach  safe  results,  developments  should  be  slowly 
evolved;  but  the  temper  of  the  nation  has  been 
wrought  up,  and  it  is,  moreover,  a  fiery  temper. 
"Do  you  remember,  my  dear  general,"  he  writes, 
"of  the  first  repast  that  we  have  made  together 
at  Rod-Island  ?  I  [made]  you  remark  from  the 
soup  the  difference  of  character  of  our  two  na- 
tions, the  French  in  burning  their  throat  and  all 
the  Americans  waiting  wisely  [for]  the  time  that 
it  was  cooled.  I  believe,  my  dear  general,  you 
have  seen,  since  a  year,  that  our  nation  has  not 
change[d]  of  character.  We  go  very  fast — God 
will  that  we  [reach]  our  aims."  2 

In  his  moments  of  deepest  anxiety  Rochambeau 
is  pleased,  however,  to  remember  "a  word  of  the 
late  King  of  Prussia,"  Frederick  II,  who,  consid- 
ering what  France  was,  what  misfortunes  and 
dangers  she  had  encountered,  and  what  concealed 
sources  of  strength  were  in  her,  once  said  to  the 
French  minister  accredited  to  him:  "I  have  been 
brought  up  in  the  middle  of  the  unhappiness  of 
France;  my  cradle  was  surrounded  with  refugee 

1  Paris,  July  31,  1789. 

2  "Rochambeau  near  Venddme,"  April  n,  1790. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         247 

Protestants  that,  about  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV  and  the  beginning  of  the  regency  of 
the  Due  d' Orleans,  told  me  that  France  was  at 
the  agony  and  could  not  exist  three  years.  I 
[have]  known  in  the  course  of  my  reign  that 
France  has  such  a  temper  that  there  [is]  no  bad 
minister  nor  bad  generals  [who]  be  able  to  kill  it, 
and  that  constitution  has  made  it  rise  again  of 
all  its  crises,  with  strength  and  vigor.  It  wants 
no  other  remedy  but  time  and  keep  a  strict  course 
of  diet."  1 

Events  followed  their  course,  but,  while  every- 
thing else  was  changing  in  France,  the  feeling  for 
Washington  and  the  United  States  remained  the 
same.  The  two  countries  felt  nearer  than  before, 
and  showed  it  in  many  ways.  At  the  death  of 
Franklin  the  National  Assembly,  on  the  proposal 
of  Mirabeau,  went  into  mourning  for  three  days; 
our  first  Constitution,  of  1791,  was  notified  to 
the  American  Government:  "President  Washing- 
ton," the  French  minister  informed  his  chief, 
"received  the  King's  letter  with  the  tokens  of 
the  greatest  satisfaction;  and  in  accordance  with 
your  orders  a  copy  of  the  Constitution  and  of 
the  King's  letter  to  the  National  Assembly  was 
given  to  him  as  well  as  to  Mr.  Jefferson."  2  Tom 

1  Paris,  May  12,  1787. 

2Ternant  to  Montmorin,  Philadelphia,  March  13,  1792.    Corres- 
pondence of  the  French  Ministers,  ed.  Turner,  Washington,  1904. 


248          WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

Paine,  though  an  American,  or  rather  because 
an  American,  was  elected  by  several  depart- 
ments a  member  of  the  Convention,  took  his 
seat,  but,  as  he  knew  no  French,  had  his  speeches 
translated  and  read  for  him;  he  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  drafting  of  our  second  Consti- 
tution, the  republican  one  of  1793.  As  a  sacred 
emblem  of  liberty,  the  American  flag  was  displayed 
in  the  hall  where  the  Convention  held  its  sittings. 
A  quite  extraordinary  decree  was  rendered  by 
this  body  in  the  second  year  of  the  Republic, 
"  after  having  heard  the  petition  of  American 
citizens,"  deciding,  and  this  at  a  time  when  every- 
body was  liable  to  arrest,  that  "the  wives  of 
American  citizens,  whatever  the  place  of  their 
birth,  should  be  exempted  from  the  law  on  the 
arrestation  of  foreigners." 

The  1 4th  of  July  was,  in  the  meantime,  cele- 
brated in  America,  just  as  in  France,  as  mark- 
ing a  new  progress  in  the  development  of  man- 
kind. Our  minister,  Ternant,  gave  Dumouriez 
a  glowing  account  of  such  a  celebration:  "It  af- 
fords me  great  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that,  in 
spite  of  the  news  received  the  day  before  of  the 
bad  success  of  our  first  military  operations,  the 
Americans  have  given,  on  the  occasion  of  this 
anniversary,  touching  signs  of  their  attachment 
for  France  and  proof  of  the  interest  they  take  in 
the  success  of  our  arms.  You  will  see  by  the 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         249 

bulletins  and  newspapers  accompanying  this  letter 
that  the  same  sentiments  have  been  manifested 
in  almost  all  the  cities  which  count  in  the  Union, 
and  that  the  i4th  has  been  celebrated  with  the 
same  ardor  as  the  4th,  which  is  the  anniversary 
of  American  independence."  l 

For  the  person  of  the  President  French  tokens 
of  veneration  and  friendship  multiplied.  In  the 
same  year — year  I  of  the  Republic — the  Con- 
vention had  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  French 
citizen,  as  being  "one  of  the  benefactors  of 
mankind."  French  officers  had  united  to  offer 
Mrs.  Washington  a  dinner  service,  each  piece 
ornamented  with  a  star  and  her  initials  in  the 
centre,  and  the  names  of  the  States  in  medal- 
lions around  the  border,  the  whole  surrounded 
by  a  serpent  biting  its  tail,  the  emblem  of  per- 
petuity. 

French  dramatists  could  not  wait  until  the 
great  man  should  belong  to  the  past  to  make  of 
him  the  hero  of  a  tragedy  in  Alexandrine  verse: 
Vashington  ou  la  Liberte  du  Nouveau  Monde,  par 
M.  de  Sauvigny,  performed  for  the  first  time  on 
the  Theatre  of  the  Nation  (as  the  "Comedie  Fran- 
c.aise"  was  then  called),  on  the  i3th  of  July,  1791, 
and  in  which  a  nameless  predecessor  of  mine, 
* T Ambassadeur  de  France,"  brought  the  play 
to  a  conclusion  with  praise  of  Washington,  of 

'July  28,  1792. 


250         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

Franklin,  of  Congress,  and  of  the  whole  American 
people: 

Magistrals  dont  Taudace  etonna  1'univers, 
Calmes  dans  la  tempete  et  grands  dans  les  revers, 
Vous  sutes,  par  1'effet  d'une  sage  harmonic, 
Enfanter  des  vertus,  un  peuple,  une  patrie. 

And  in  a  kind  of  postcript,  the  author,  com- 
menting on  the  events  related  in  his  play,  ob- 
served with  truth:  "The  great  American  Revo- 
lution has  been  the  first  result  of  one  greater  still 
which  had  taken  place  in  the  empire  of  opinion." 
Of  any  animosity  against  the  English,  the  same 
comment  offers  no  trace. 

Gloomy  days  succeeded  radiant  ones.  Past 
abuses,  danger  from  abroad,  general  suffering, 
passions  let  loose,  were  not  conducive  to  that 
coolness  and  moderation  which  Washington  had 
recommended  from  the  first.  Ternant,  had  been 
succeeded  as  representative  of  France  by  that 
famous  citizen  Genet,  who,  in  spite  of  his  having 
some  diplomatic  experience  gathered  as  Charge 
d' Affaires  in  Russia,  and  being  in  a  way  a  man  of 
parts,  an  authority  on  Swedes  and  Finns,  had  his 
head  turned  the  moment  he  landed,  so  completely, 
indeed,  that  it  is  impossible,  in  spite  of  the  gravity 
of  the  consequences  involved,  not  to  smile  when 
reading  his  high-flown,  self-complacent,  self -adver- 
tising, beaming  despatches:  "My  journey  (from 


WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH          251 

Charleston  to  Philadelphia)  has  been  an  uninter- 
rupted succession  of  civic  festivities,  and  my  entry 
in  Philadelphia  a  triumph  for  liberty.  True 
Americans  are  at  the  height  of  joy."1 

In  his  next  letters  he  insists  and  gloats  over 
his  own  matchless  deeds:  "The  whole  of  America 
has  risen  to  acknowledge  in  me  the  minister  of 
the  French  Republic.  ...  I  live  in  the  midst 
of  perpetual  feasts;  I  receive  addresses  from  all 
parts  of  the  continent.  I  see  with  pleasure  that 
my  way  of  negotiating  pleases  our  American 
brothers,  and  I  am  founded  to  believe,  citizen 
minister,  that  my  mission  will  be  a  fortunate 
one  from  every  point  of  view.  I  include  here- 
with American  gazettes  in  which  I  have  marked 
the  articles  concerning  myself." 

Encouraged  by  the  Anti-Federalists,  who 
thought  they  could  use  him  for  their  own  pur- 
poses, Genet  shows  scant  respect  for  "old  Wash- 
ington, who  greatly  differs  from  him  whose  name 
has  been  engraved  by  history,  and  who  does  not 
pardon  me  my  successes";  a  mere  "Fayettist,"  he 
disdainfully  calls  him  elsewhere.  But  Genet  will 
have  the  better  of  any  such  opposition:  "I  am 
in  the  meantime  provisioning  the  West  Indies,  I 
excite  Canadians  to  break  the  British  yoke,  I 
arm  the  Kentukois,  and  prepare  a  naval  expedi- 

1  Philadelphia,  May  18,  1793.     Correspondence  of  the  French  Minis- 
ters in  the  United  States,  ed.  Turner,  Washington,  1904,  p.  214. 


252         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

tion  which  will  facilitate  their  descent  on  New 
Orleans."1 

He  had,  in  fact,  armed  in  American  waters, 
quite  a  fleet  of  corsairs,  revelling  in  the  bestowal 
on  them  of  such  names  as  the  Sans-Culotte,  the 
Anti-George,  the  Patriote  Genet ,  the  Vainqueur  de 
la  Bastille,  La  Petite  Democrate. 

His  triumphs,  his  lustre,  his  listening  to  ad- 
dresses in  his  own  honor,  and  reading  articles 
in  his  own  praise,  his  being  "clasped  in  the  arms 
of  a  multitude  which  had  rushed  to  meet  him," 
his  naval  and  military  deeds  were  short-lived. 
Contrary  to  the  current  belief,  the  too  well- 
founded  indignation  of  "Fayettist"  Washing- 
ton had  nothing  to  do  with  his  catastrophe.  On 
receipt  of  the  very  first  letter  of  the  citizen- 
diplomat,  and  by  return  of  mail,  the  foreign  min- 
ister of  the  French  Republic  took  the  initiative 
and  wrote  him: 

"I  see  that  you  have  been  received  by  an  hos- 
pitable and  open-hearted  people  with  all  the  mani- 
festations of  friendship  of  which  your  predecessors 
had  also  been  the  recipients.  .  .  .  You  have  fan- 
cied, thereupon,  that  it  belonged  to  you  to  lead 
the  political  actions  of  this  people  and  make 
them  join  our  cause.  Availing  yourself  of  the 
flattering  statements  of  the  Charleston  authori- 
ties, you  have  thought  fit  to  arm  corsairs,  to  or- 

1  May  31,  June  19,  1793.     Ibid.,  pp.  216,  217. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         253 

ganize  recruiting,  to  have  prizes  condemned,  be- 
fore even  having  been  recognized  by  the  American 
Government,  before  having  its  assent,  nay,  with 
the  certitude  of  its  disapproval.  You  invoke 
your  instructions  from  the  'Conseil  executif  of 
the  Republic;  but  your  instructions  enjoin  upon 
you  quite  the  reverse:  they  order  you  to  treat 
with  the  government,  not  with  a  portion  of  the 
people;  to  be  for  Congress  the  spokesman  of  the 
French  Republic,  and  not  the  leader  of  an  Ameri- 
can party."  The  diplomat's  relations  with  Wash- 
ington are  the  opposite  of  what  France  desires: 
"You  say  that  Washington  does  not  pardon  you 
your  successes,  and  that  he  hampers  your  moves  in 
a  thousand  ways.  You  are  ordered  to  treat  with 
the  American  Government;  there  only  can  you 
attain  real  successes;  all  the  others  are  illusory 
and  contrary  to  the  interests  of  your  country. 
Dazzled  by  a  false  popularity,  you  have  estranged 
the  only  man  who  should  represent  for  you  the 
American  people,  and  if  your  action  is  hampered, 
you  have  only  yourself  to  blame."  l 

While  this  letter  was  slowly  crossing  the  ocean, 
others  from  Genet  were  on  the  way  to  France, 
written  in  the  same  beaming  style.  He  continued 
to  gloat  over  his  successes  and  mercilessly  to 
abuse  all  Federalists,  those  confessed  partisans  of 
"monocracy." 

1  June  19,  1793.     Ibid.,  p.  230. 


254          WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

People  were  not  for  half -measures  at  Paris,  in 
those  terrible  days.  Instead  of  prolonging  a  use- 
less epistolary  correspondence,  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  rendered  a  decree  providing  that 
a  commission  would  be  sent  to  Philadelphia,  with 
powers  to  disavow  the  "criminal  conduct  of 
Genet,"  to  disarm  his  Sans-Culotte  and  other  cor- 
sairs, to  revoke  all  consuls  who  had  taken  part  in 
such  armaments,  and,  as  for  Genet  himself,  to 
have  him  arrested  and  sent  back  to  France. 
What  such  an  arrest  meant  was  made  evident  by 
the  signatures  at  the  foot  of  the  decree:  "Barere, 
Herault,  Robespierre,  Billaud-Varennes,  Collot 
d'Herbois,  Saint- Just."  1 

Better  than  any  one,  Genet  knew  the  meaning. 
But  that  same  government  which  he  had  abused 
was  generous  and  protected  him.  "We  wanted 
his  dismissal,  not  his  punishment,"  said  Secretary 
of  State  Randolph,  who  refused  to  have  him  ar- 
rested. Genet  hastened  to  give  up  a  country 
so  hard  to  please,  he  thought,  as  that  of  his  birth, 
became  an  American,  and  as,  with  all  his  faults, 
he  was  not  without  some  merits,  being  welcomed 
in  many  families,  and  especially  in  the  house  of 
"General  Clinton,  Governor,"  he  wrote,  "of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  chief  of  the  Anti-Federal- 
ist party,"  he  married  his  daughter,  and  died  at 
Schodack,  N.  Y.,  a  respected  citizen  and  agricul- 

1  October  n,  1793.     Ibid.,  p.  287. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         255 

turist,  in  1834.  His  name  has  once  more  promi- 
nently appeared,  and  in  the  most  honorable 
fashion,  in  those  gazettes  whose  articles  in  his 
favor  pleased  him  so  much:  a  descendant  of  his 
has  enlisted  for  the  old  country  during  the  present 
war,  and  has  cast  lustre  on  the  name  by  his 
bravery. 

The  last  years  of  the  former  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  American  and  French  armies  were 
saddened  by  difficulties,  troubles,  and  quarrels 
with  American  political  parties  and  with  the 
French  nation.  The  Jay  treaty  with  England 
(November  19,  1794)  had  raised  a  storm:  "At 
present  the  cry  against  the  treaty  is  like  that 
against  a  mad  dog;  and  every  one  in  a  manner 
is  running  it  down.  .  .  .  The  string  which  is 
most  played  on,  because  it  strikes  with  most 
force  the  popular  ear,  is  the  violation,  as  they 
term  it,  of  our  engagements  with  France."1  Anti- 
Federalists  were  indignant;  the  French  not  at 
all  pleased,  and  their  "captures  and  seizures," 
coupled  with  a  desire  to  be  allowed  (which  they 
were  not)  to  sell  their  prizes  in  American  harbors, 
increased  the  discontent.  The  opposition  press 
was  unspeakably  virulent,  and  the  great  man 
sadly  confessed  he  would  never  have  believed  that, 
he  said,  "every  act  of  his  administration  would 
be  tortured,  and  the  grossest  and  most  insidious 

1  Washington  to  Alexander  Hamilton,  July  29,  1795. 


256         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

misrepresentations  of  them  be  made,  by  giving 
one  side  only  of  a  subject,  and  that,  too,  in  such 
exaggerated  and  indecent  terms  as  could  scarcely 
be  applied  to  a  Nero,  a  notorious  defaulter,  or 
even  to  a  common  pickpocket."  l 

The  time  came  at  last  for  his  definitive  re- 
treat to  Mount  Vernon.  He  reached  it  a  sad- 
dened, grand  old  man,  longing  to  be  at  last  an 
American  farmer  and  nothing  more,  and  never 
to  go  "beyond  twenty  miles"  from  his  home. 
"To  make  and  sell  a  little  flour  annually,  to  re- 
pair houses  going  fast  to  ruin,  to  build  one  for 
the  security  of  my  papers  of  a  public  nature, 
and  to  amuse  myself  in  agricultural  and  rural  pur- 
suits, will  constitute  employment  for  the  few  years 
I  have  to  remain  on  this  terrestrial  globe."  2 

His  desire  was  to  continue  to  the  end  in  the 
regular  occupations  he  describes  to  McHenry,  in 
a  letter  giving  us  the  best  picture  we  have  of  every- 
day life  at  Mount  Vernon.  Wondering  what  he 
might  say  that  would  interest  a  secretary  of  war, 
he  writes:  "I  might  tell  him  that  I  begin  my  di- 
urnal course  with  the  sun;  that  if  my  hirelings 
are  not  at  their  places  at  that  time  I  send  them 
messages  expressive  of  my  sorrow  for  their  in- 
disposition; that,  having  put  these  wheels  in 
motion,  I  examine  the  state  of  things  further, 

*To  Jefferson,  June  6,  1796. 

2  To  Oliver  Wolcott,  May  15,  1797. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         257 

and  the  more  they  are  probed,  the  deeper,  I  find, 
the  wounds  are  which  my  buildings  have  sustained 
by  an  absence  and  neglect  of  eight  years;  by  the 
time  I  have  accomplished  these  matters,  break- 
fast (a  little  after  seven  o'clock,  about  the  time, 
I  presume,  you  are  taking  leave  of  Mrs.  McHenry) 
is  ready;  that,  this  being  over,  I  mount  my  horse 
and  ride  round  my  farms,  which  employs  me  until 
it  is  time  to  dress  for  dinner,  at  which  I  rarely 
miss  seeing  strange  faces,  come,  as  they  say,  out 
of  respect  for  me.  Pray,  would  not  the  word 
curiosity  answer  as  well  ?  And  how  different 
this  from  having  a  few  social  friends  at  a  cheerful 
board !  The  usual  time  of  sitting  at  table,  a 
walk,  and  tea  brings  me  within  the  dawn  of 
candle-light;  previous  to  which,  if  not  prevented 
by  company,  I  resolve  that  as  soon  as  the  glim- 
mering taper  supplies  the  place  of  the  great  lu- 
minary, I  will  retire  to  my  writing-table  and 
acknowledge  the  letters  I  have' received;  but  when 
the  lights  are  brought  I  feel  tired  and  disin- 
clined to  engage  in  this  work,  conceiving  that  the 
next  night  will  do  as  well.  The  next  comes  and 
with  it  the  same  causes  for  postponement  and 
effect,  and  so  on.  ... 

"It  may  strike  you  that  in  this  detail  no  men- 
tion is  made  of  any  portion  of  time  allotted  for 
reading.  The  remark  would  be  just,  for  I  have 
not  looked  into  a  book  since  I  came  home;  nor 


258         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

shall  I  be  able  to  do  it  until  I  have  discharged 
my  workmen,  probably  not  before  nights  grow 
longer,  when  possibly  I  may  be  looking  in  Doomes- 
day  Book."  * 

But  in  this  calm  retreat,  described  with  a  truth 
and  charm  almost  reminding  one  of  William 
Cowper's  familiar  letters,  and  where  he  was  to 
spend  such  a  small  number  of  years,  trouble,  as 
previously,  soon  knocked  at  the  door.  It  seemed 
at  one  time  as  if  the  former  commander-in-chief 
of  Franco-  American  armies  would  have  to  lead 
the  Americans  against  the  French.  In  spite  of  the 
preparations  which  he  had  himself  to  superintend, 
he  refused  to  believe  that  war  would  really  occur: 
"My  mind  never  has  been  alarmed  by  any  fears 
of  a  war  with  France."  2  But  in  his  judgments 
of  the  French,  as  governed  by  the  Directoire, 
Washington  was  gradually  receding  toward  the 
time  when  he  knew  them  only  through  Steele  and 
Addison,  and  had,  "in  the  Spectator,  read  to  No. 


He  died  without  knowing  that  the  threatening 
clouds  would  soon  be  dispelled;  that  the  next 
important  event  which  would  count  in  the  annals 
of  the  United  States  and  make  their  greatness 
secure  would  come  from  those  same  French 
people:  the  cession  by  them,  unexpected  and  un- 

1  Mount  Vernon,  May  29,  1797. 

2  To  T.  Pickering,  August  29,  1797. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         259 

asked-for,  not  of  New  Orleans,  but  of  the  im- 
mense territory  then  called  Louisiana;  and  that, 
while  his  feelings  toward  the  French  had  under- 
gone changes,  those  of  the  French  toward  him  had 
remained  unaltered. 

When  the  news  came  that  on  Saturday,  i4th 
of  December,  1799,  the  great  leader  had  passed 
away,1  the  French  Republic  went  into  mourn- 
ing; for  ten  days  officers  wore  crape,  flags  were 
flown  at  half-mast,  and  the  head  of  the  state, 
young  Bonaparte,  issued  an  order  in  which  he 
said:  "Washington  is  dead.  This  great  man 
fought  tyranny.  He  established  on  a  safe  basis 
the  liberty  of  his  country.  His  memory  will  ever 
be  dear  to  the  French  people  as  well  as  to  all  the 
free  men  of  the  two  worlds,  and  especially  to 
French  soldiers,  who,  like  himself  and  the  Ameri- 
can soldiers,  fight  now  for  equality  and  liberty." 

An  impressive  and  unparalleled  ceremony  there- 
upon took  place  at  the  Invalides,  the  Temple  of 
Mars,  as  it  was  then  called.  Detachments  from 


1  "Nulli  flebilior  quam  mihi"  wrote  Lafayette,  in  learning  the 
news,  to  Crevecceur,  who  had  just  dedicated  to  Washington  his 
Voyage  dans  la  haute  Pennsylvanie,  adorned,  by  way  of  frontispiece, 
with  a  portrait  of  Washington,  "grave  d'apres  le  camee  peint  par 
Madame  Brehan,  a  New  York,  en  1789."  Crevecceur  wanted  to 
offer  a  copy  of  his  book  to  Bonaparte.  "Send  it,"  a  friend  of  his 
who  knew  the  young  general  told  him;  "it  is  a  right  you  have  as 
an  associate  member  of  the  Institute;  add  a  letter  of  two  or  three 
lines,  mentioning  in  it  the  name  of  Washington."  St.  John  de  Creve- 
coeur, by  Robert  de  Crevecceur,  1883,  p.  399. 


260         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

the  Paris  garrison  lined  the  aisles ;  all  that  counted 
in  the  Republic  was  present,  Bonaparte  included, 
and  Fontanes,  the  most  famous  orator  of  the  day, 
delivered  the  funeral  eulogy  on  the  departed 
leader:  "Washington's  work  is  scarcely  per- 
fected," he  said,  "and  it  is  already  surrounded 
by  that  veneration  that  is  usually  bestowed  only 
on  what  has  been  consecrated  by  time.  The 
American  Revolution,  of  which  we  are  contem- 
poraries, seems  now  consolidated  forever.  Wash- 
ington began  it  by  his  energy,  and  achieved  it  by 
his  moderation.  In  rendering  a  public  homage 
to  Washington,  France  pays  a  debt  due  to  him 
by  the  two  worlds." 

In  one  of  the  first  sentences  of  the  oration, 
England  (with  whom  we  were  at  war)  was  courte- 
ously associated  to  the  homage  rendered  by  us 
to  the  great  man:  "The  very  nation,"  said  Fon- 
tanes, "that  recently  called  Washington  a  rebel, 
now  looks  upon  the  emancipation  of  America  as 
one  of  those  events  consecrated  by  the  verdict 
of  centuries  and  of  history.  Such  is  the  privilege 
of  great  characters."  1 

In  the  centre  of  the  nave  stood  the  bust  of 
Washington,  wreathed  in  flags  and  laurels.  Years 
before,  in  Independence  Hall  at  Philadelphia,  on 

1  "  Eloge  f unSbre  de  Washington,  prononc6  dans  le  temple  de  Mars 
(H6tel  des  Invalides)  le  20  pluviose,  an  VIII  (8  f6vrier,  1800),"  in 
(Euvres  de  M.  de  Fontanes,  recueillies  pour  la  premiere  fois,  Paris, 
1839,  2  vols.,  II,  147. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         261 

a  spot  now  marked  by  an  inscription,  the  flags 
taken  at  Yorktown  had  been  laid  at  the  feet  of 
the  President  of  Congress  and  of  the  minister 
from  France,  Gerard  de  Rayneval.  Now  Gen- 
eral Lannes,  the  future  marshal,  came  forth  and 
with  appropriate  words  laid  before  the  image  of 
the  former  commander  ninety-six  flags  taken  from 
the  enemy  by  the  troops  of  republican  France. 

A  plan  was  formed  thereupon,  the  realization 
of  which  troublous  days  did  not  allow,  to  erect 
a  statue  of  Washington  in  Paris  (he  now  has  two 
there  and  one  in  Versailles,  gratefully  accepted 
gifts  from  America),  and  a  decree  was  prepared  by 
Talleyrand  recalling,  as  a  motive,  the  similitude 
of  feelings  between  France  and  that  "nation 
which  is  sure  to  be  one  day  a  great  nation,  and 
is  even  now  the  wisest  and  happiest  in  the  world, 
and  which  mourns  for  the  death  of  the  man  who 
did  more  than  any,  by  his  courage  and  genius, 
to  break  her  shackles  and  raise  her  to  the  rank 
of  independent  peoples.  .  .  .  One  of  the  noblest 
lives  which  have  honored  mankind  has  just 
passed  into  the  domain  of  history.  .  .  .  Wash- 
ington's fame  is  now  imperishable;  Fortune  had 
consecrated  his  titles  to  it;  and  the  posterity 
of  a  people  which  will  rise  later  to  the  highest 
destinies  continuously  confirms  and  strengthens 
those  titles  by  its  very  progress." 

Chateaubriand,  Lamartine,  Guizot,  Cornelis  de 


262         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

Witt,  Laboulaye,  Joseph  Fabre,  many  other 
French  thinkers  and  writers,  vied  with  each  other 
in  their  praise  and  admiration  throughout  the 
century.  Chateaubriand,  who  had  seen  the  great 
man  at  Philadelphia  in  1791,  inserted  in  his  Voy- 
age en  Amerique  his  famous  parallel  between  Bona- 
parte and  Washington:  ''The  republic  of  Wash- 
ington subsists;  the  empire  of  Bonaparte  is  no 
more;  it  came  and  went  between  the  first  and 
second  journey  of  a  Frenchman1  who  has  found  a 
grateful  nation  where  he  had  fought  for  some 
oppressed  colonists.  .  .  .  The  name  of  Wash- 
ington will  spread,  with  liberty,  from  age  to  age; 
it  will  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  for  man- 
kind. .  .  .  His  fame  rises  like  one  of  those 
sanctuaries  wherein  flows  a  spring  inexhaustible 
for  the  people.  .  .  .  What  would  be  the  rank 
of  Bonaparte  in  the  universe  if  he  had  added 
magnanimity  to  what  there  was  heroical  in  him, 
and  if,  being  at  the  same  time  Washington  and 
Bonaparte,  he  had  appointed  Liberty  for  the 
heiress  of  his  glory?" 

Lamartine,  receiving  an  Italian  delegation  in 
1848,  asked  them  to  hate  the  memory  of  Machia- 
velli  and  bless  that  of  Washington :  ' '  His  name  is 
the  symbol  of  modern  liberty.  The  name  of  a 
politician,  the  name  of  a  conqueror  is  no  longer 
what  is  wanted  by  the  world,  but  the  name  of 

1  Lafayette's  journeys  to  America. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH          263 

the  most  disinterested  of  men,  and  the  most  de- 
voted to  the  people."  Guizot  published  his  note- 
worthy study  on  the  first  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  American  colony  in  Paris,  to  com- 
memorate the  event,  had  the  portrait  of  the 
French  statesman  painted  by  Healy  in  1841,  and 
presented  it  to  the  city  of  Washington,  where  it 
is  preserved  in  the  National  Museum. 

Publishing,  during  the  early  years  of  the  Second 
Empire,  the  series  of  lectures  he  had  delivered 
at  the  College  de  France  during  our  Second 
Republic,  the  great  Liberal,  Laboulaye,  who  did 
so  much  to  make  America  and  the  Americans 
popular  in  France,  wrote  in  his  preface:  "Wash- 
ington has  established  a  wise  and  well-ordered 
republic,  and  he  has  left  to  after-times,  not  the 
fatal  example  of  crime  triumphant,  but  a  whole- 
some example  of  patriotism  and  virtue.  In  less 
than  fifty  years,1  owing  to  the  powerful  sap  of 
liberty,  we  have  seen  an  empire  arise,  having  for 
its  base,  not  conquest,  but  peace  and  industry, 
an  empire  which  before  the  end  of  the  century 
will  be  the  greatest  state  in  the  civilized  world, 
and  which,  if  it  remains  faithful  to  the  thought  of 
its  founders,  if  ambition  does  not  arrest  the  course 
of  its  fortune,  will  offer  to  the  world  the  prodigious 
sight  of  a  republic  of  one  hundred  million  inhabi- 
tants, richer,  happier,  more  brilliant  than  the 

1  An  exact  justification  of  Lacretelle's  prediction;   above,  p.  94. 


264         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

monarchies  of  the  old  world.     All  this  is  Wash- 
ington's work."  1 

Nearer  our  time,  Joseph  Fabre,  the  well-known 
historian  of  Joan  of  Arc,  wrote:  "This  sage  was 
a  wonder  of  reasoned  enthusiasm,  of  thoughtful 
intrepidity,  of  methodical  tenacity,  of  circumspect 
boldness,  facing  from  abroad  oppression,  at  home 
anarchy,  both  vanquished  by  his  calm  genius."  2 

1  Histoire  des  Etats  Unis,  3  vols.;  preface  dated  1855;  the  lectures 
had  been  delivered  in  1849.    Washington  is  the  hero  of  the  work, 
which  is  carried  on  only  to  1789. 

2  Washington,  libiraleur  de  VAmirique,  1882,  often  reprinted,  dedi- 
cated:   "A  la  memoire  de  Lazare  Hoche,  le  soldat  citoyen,  qui 
aurait  e"te"  notre  Washington  s'il  eftt  ve*cu." 


V 

Once  more  now  a  republic  has  been  established 
in  France,  which,  having,  we  hope,  something  of 
the  qualities  of  " coolness  and  moderation"  that 
Washington  wanted  us  to  possess,  will,  we  trust, 
prove  perpetual.  It  has  already  lasted  nearly 
half  a  century:  an  unexampled  phenomenon  in 
the  history  of  Europe,  no  other  republic  of  such 
magnitude  having  thus  survived  in  the  old  world 
since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  one,  twenty  centuries 
ago. 

If  the  great  man  were  to  come  again,  we  enter- 
tain a  fond  hope  that  he  would  deem  us  not  un- 
deserving now  of  the  sympathies  he  bestowed  on 
our  ancestors  at  the  period  when  he  was  living 
side  by  side  with  them.  Most  of  the  leading 
ideas  followed  by  him  throughout  life  are  those 
which  we  try  to  put  in  practise.  We  have  our 
faults,  to  be  sure;  we  know  them,  others  know 
them,  too;  it  is  not  our  custom  to  conceal  them, 
far  from  it;  may  this  serve  as  an  excuse  for  re- 
viewing here  by  preference  something  else  than 
what  might  occasion  blame. 

That  equality  of  chances  for  all,  which  caused 
the  admiration  of  the  early  French  visitors  to 

265 


266         WASHINGTON  AND  THE   FRENCH 

this  country,  which  was  one  of  the  chief  things 
for  which  Washington  had  fought,  and  continues 
to  be  to-day  one  of  the  chief  attractions  offered 
to  the  immigrant  by  these  States,  has  been  secured 
in  the  French  Republic,  too,  where  no  privileges 
of  any  sort  remain,  the  right  to  vote  is  refused  to 
none,  taxation  is  the  same  for  all,  and  military 
service  is  expected  from  everybody.  No  principle 
had  more  importance  in  the  eyes  of  Washington 
than  that  of  " equal  liberty."  "What  triumph 
for  our  enemies  to  verify  their  predictions!" 
Washington  had  written  to  John  Jay,  in  a  mo- 
ment of  depression,  when  he  feared  that  what 
Genet  was  to  call  ' '  monocracy ' '  was  in  the  ascen- 
dant; "what  triumph  for  the  advocates  of  des- 
potism to  find  that  we  are  unable  of  governing 
ourselves,  and  that  systems  founded  on  the 
basis  of  equal  liberty  are  merely  ideal  and  falla- 
cious." 1 

In  France,  as  in  the  United  States,  the  unique 
source  of  power  is  the  will  of  the  people.  In  our 
search  for  the  solution  of  the  great  problem  which 
now  confronts  the  world,  that  of  the  relations 
of  capital  and  labor,  we  endeavor  to  practise  the 
admirable  maxim  of  one  of  our  statesmen  of 
to-day:  "Capital  must  work,  labor  must  pos- 
sess." And  though  we  are  still  remote  from  this 
goal,  yet  we  have  travelled  so  far  toward  it  that, 
'August  i,  1786. 


WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH          267 

at  the  present  day,  one  out  of  every  two  electors 
in  France  is  the  possessor  of  his  own  house.1 

The  development  of  instruction  was  one  of  the 
most  cherished  ideas  of  Washington,  as  it  is  now 
of  his  descendants.  "You  will  agree  with  me  in 
opinion,"  he  said  in  a  speech  to  both  houses  of 
Congress  in  1790,  "that  there  is  nothing  that  can 
better  deserve  your  patronage  than  the  promo- 
tion of  science  and  literature.  Knowledge  is  in 
every  country  the  surest  basis  of  happiness." 
Instruction  has  become,  under  the  Republic,  obli- 
gatory for  all  in  France,  and  is  given  free  of  cost 
to  all.  Not  a  village,  not  a  hamlet,  lost  in  the 
recesses  of  valleys  or  mountains,  that  is  without 
its  school.  The  state  expenditure  for  primary 
instruction  during  the  Second  Empire  amounted 
only  to  twelve  million  francs;  the  mere  salary  of 
school-teachers  alone  is  now  twenty  times  greater. 
We  try  to  live  up  to  the  old  principle :  three  things 
should  be  given  free  to  all — air,  water,  knowledge : 
and  so  it  is  that  at  the  Sorbonne,  the  College  de 
France,  in  the  provincial  universities,  all  one  has  to 
do  in  order  to  follow  the  best  courses  of  lectures  is 
to  push  open  the  door.  The  man  in  the  street 
may  come  in  if  he  chooses,  just  to  warm  himself 
in  winter  or  to  avoid  a  shower  in  summer.  Let 
him;  perhaps  he  will  listen  too. 

ltllt  is  estimated  that  there  are  more  small  holdings  of  land  in 
France  than  in  Germany,  England,  and  Austria  combined."  Re- 
port of  the  [U.  S.]  Commissioner  of  Education,  1913,  p.  714. 


268         WASHINGTON  AND   THE  FRENCH 

Very  wisely,  being,  in  many  ways,  very  modern, 
Washington  attached  great  importance  to  inven- 
tions. In  a  speech  to  Congress  on  January  9, 
1790,  he  said:  "I  cannot  forbear  intimating  to  you 
the  expediency  of  giving  effectual  encouragement 
as  well  to  the  introduction  of  new  and  useful  in- 
ventions from  abroad  as  to  the  exertions  of  skill 
and  genius  in  producing  them  at  home,  and  of 
facilitating  the  intercourse  between  the  distant 
parts  of  our  country  by  a  due  attention  to  the 
post-office  and  the  post-roads." 

Distances  having  immensely  increased  in 
America  (as  well  as  means  to  cover  them),  these 
latter  remarks  are  certainly  still  of  value.  With 
a  much  less  difficult  problem  to  solve,  we  believe 
that,  in  the  matter  of  post -roads,  and  with  a  sys- 
tem of  rural  delivery  coextensive  with  the  national 
territory,  we  would  pass  muster  in  the  presence 
of  the  great  man.  As  for  inventions,  we  hope  that 
even  the  compatriots  of  Franklin,  Fulton,  Whit- 
ney, Horace  Wells,  W.  T.  G.  Morton,  Morse,  Bell, 
Edison,  the  Wright  brothers,  and  many  more, 
would  consider  that  our  show  is  a  creditable  one, 
with  Jacquard's  loom,  the  laws  of  Ampere  on 
electricity,  Seguin's  tubular  boilers,  Sauvage's 
screw,  Niepce  and  Daguerre's  photography,  Re- 
nard  and  Kreb's  first  dirigible,  Lumiere's  cinemato- 
graph, Curie's  radium,  with  the  automobile,  which 
is  transforming  our  way  of  life  (decentralizing 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         269 

overcentralized  countries)  as  much  as  the  railroads 
did  in  the  last  century;  and,  more  than  all,  be- 
cause so  beneficent  to  all,  with  the  discoveries 
of  Chevreul,  Flourens,  Claude  Bernard,  Laveran, 
Berthelot,  and  especially  Pasteur. 

On  the  question  of  the  preservation  of  natural 
resources,  to  which,  and  not  too  soon,  so  much 
attention  has  been  paid  of  late,  Washington  had 
settled  ideas;  so  have  we,  ours  being  somewhat 
radical,  and  embodying,  for  mines  especially,  the 
French  principle  that  "what  belongs  to  nobody 
belongs  to  everybody,"  and  by  everybody  must 
be  understood  the  nation.  Concerning  this  prob- 
lem and  the  best  way  to  solve  it,  Washington 
sent  once  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  President  of 
Congress,  saying:  "Would  there  be  any  impro- 
priety, do  you  think,  sir,  in  reserving  for  special 
sale  all  mines,  minerals,  and  salt  springs,  in  the 
general  grants  of  land  belonging  to  the  United 
States  ?  The  public,  instead  of  the  few  knowing 
ones,  might  in  this  case  receive  the  benefits  which 
would  result  from  the  sale  of  them,  without  in- 
fringing any  rule  of  justice  that  is  known  to  me."  l 

1  To  Richard  H.  Lee,  December  14,  1 784.  On  French  exertions 
in  that  line,  Consul-General  Skinner  wrote:  "If  correspondents 
could  penetrate,  as  the  writer  has  done,  the  almost  inaccessible 
mountain  villages  of  this  country,  and  there  discover  the  enthusiastic 
French  forester  at  work,  applying  scientific  methods  to  a  work 
which  can  not  come  to  complete  fruition  before  two  or  three  hundred 
years,  they  would  retire  full  of  admiration  and  surprise  and  carry  the 
lesson  back  to  the  United  States."  Daily  Consular  Reports,  Novem- 
ber 2,  1907. 


270         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

One  of  the  most  memorable  and  striking  things 
done  by  the  French  Republic  is  the  building  of 
a  vast  colonial  empire,  giving  access  to  undevel- 
oped, sometimes,  as  in  Dahomey,  barbaric  and 
sanguinary  races,  still  indulging  in  human  sacri- 
fices. Washington  has  laid  down  the  rule  of  what 
should  be  done  with  respect  to  primitive  races. 
"The  basis  of  our  proceedings  with  the  Indian 
natives,"  he  wrote  to  Lafayette,  "has  been  and 
shall  be  justice,  during  the  period  in  which  I 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  administration  of 
this  government.  Our  negotiations  and  transac- 
tions, though  many  of  them  are  on  a  small  scale 
as  to  the  objects,  ought  to  be  governed  by  the 
immutable  principles  of  equality."  And  address- 
ing the  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  John 
Carroll,  he  again  said:  "The  most  effectual  means 
of  securing  the  permanent  attachment  of  our 
savage  neighbors  is  to  convince  them  that  we 
are  just." 

There  is  nothing  we  are  ourselves  more  sincerely 
convinced  of  than  that  such  principles  are  the 
right  ones  and  should  prevail.  That  we  did  not 
lose  sight  of  them  in  the  building  of  our  colonial 
empire  its  very  vastness  testifies;  using  opposite 
means,  with  so  many  other  tasks  to  attend  to, 
we  should  have  failed.  The  number  of  people 
living  under  the  French  flag  is  about  one  hundred 
million  now.  Judging  from  the  testimony  of 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         271 

independent  witnesses,1  it  seems  that,  on  this,  too, 
we  have  acted  in  accordance  with  the  views  of 
the  former  commander-in-chief,  who  had  written 
to  Lafayette  on  August  15,  1786 :  "Let  me  ask  you, 
my  dear  marquis,  in  such  an  enlightened,  in  such 
a  liberal  age,  how  is  it  possible  that  the  great 
maritime  powers  of  Europe  should  submit  to  pay 
an  annual  tribute  to  the  little  piratical  states  of 
Barbary  ?  Would  to  Heaven  we  had  a  navy  able 
to  reform  those  enemies  to  mankind  or  crush 
them  into  non-existence."  The  "reform"  was 
begun  by  Decatur  in  1815,  and  perfected  by 
Bourmont  in  1830. 

On  one  point  Washington  was  very  positive; 
this  leader  of  men,  this  warrior,  this  winner  of 
battles,  loathed  war.  He  wanted,  of  course,  his 
nation,  as  we  want  ours,  never  to  be  without  a 
military  academy  (our  West  Point  is  called  Saint- 

1  "The  story  of  French  success  in  the  exploration,  the  civilization, 
the  administration,  and  the  exploitation  of  Africa,  is  one  of  the  won- 
der tales  of  history.  That  she  has  relied  on  the  resources  of  science 
rather  than  those  of  militarism  makes  her  achievement  the  more 
remarkable.  .  .  .  Look  at  Senegambia  as  it  is  now  under  French 
rule.  .  .  .  Contrast  the  modernized  Dahomey  of  to-day  with  its 
railways,  schools,  and  hospitals  with  the  blood-soaked  country  of 
the  early  sixties;  remember  that  Algeria  has  doubled  in  population 
since  [the  time  of]  the  last  Dey — and  you  will  have  a  bird's-eye 
view,  as  it  were,  of  what  the  French  have  accomplished  in  the  colo- 
nizing field."  E.  Alexander  Powell,  The  Last  Frontier,  New  York, 
1912,  p.  25.  Concerning  the  Arabs  under  French  rule,  Edgar  A. 
Forbes  writes:  "The  conquered  race  may  thank  the  stars  that  its 
destiny  rests  in  a  hand  that  seldom  wears  the  rough  gauntlet."  The 
Land  of  the  White  Helmet,  New  York,  1910,  p.  94. 


272         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

Cyr),  and  never  to  be  without  a  solid,  permanent 
army,  for,  as  he  said,  in  a  speech  to  Congress  in 
1796:  "However  pacific  the  general  policy  of  a 
nation  may  be,  it  ought  never  to  be  without  an 
adequate  stock  of  military  knowledge  for  emer- 
gencies .  .  .  war  might  often  depend  not  upon  its 
own  choice."  Of  this  we  are  only  too  well  aware. 
There  is  scarcely,  however,  a  question  that 
oftener  recurs  under  his  pen  in  his  letters  to  his 
French  friends  than  the  care  with  which  wars 
should  be  avoided,  and  no  hopes  were  more 
fondly  cherished  by  him  than  that,  some  day, 
human  quarrels  might  be  settled  otherwise  than 
by  bloodshed.  To  Rochambeau,  who  had  in- 
formed him  that  war-clouds  which  had  recently 
appeared  in  Europe  were  dissipated  (soon,  it  is 
true,  to  return  more  threatening),  he  expressed, 
in  1786,  his  joy  at  what  he  considered  a  proof  that 
mankind  was  becoming  "more  enlightened  and 
more  humanized.'*  To  his  friend  David  Hum- 
phreys he  had  written  from  Mount  Vernon,  July 
25>  T-J&S-  "My  first  wish  is  to  see  this  plague  to 
mankind  (war)  banished  from  off  the  earth,  and 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  this  world  employed 
in  more  pleasing  and  innocent  amusements  than 
in  preparing  implements  and  exercising  them  for 
the  destruction  of  mankind.  Rather  than  quarrel 
about  territory,  let  the  poor,  the  needy,  the  op- 
pressed of  the  earth,  and  those  who  want  land, 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH         273 

resort  to  the  fertile  plains  of  our  Western  country, 
the  second  land  of  promise,  and  there  dwell  in 
peace,  fulfilling  the  first  and  great  commandment." 
His  dream  was  of  mankind  one  day  "  connected 
like  one  great  family  in  fraternal  ties."  1 

On  this  matter,  of  such  paramount  importance 
to  all  the  world,  and  in  spite  of  so  much,  so  very 
much  remaining  to  be  done,  we  may,  I  hope, 
consider  in  France  that  our  Republic  would  de- 
serve the  approval  of  the  departed  leader.  We 
have  indeed  vied  with  the  United  States  (and 
praise  be  rendered  to  empires  and  kingdoms  who 
have  played  also  the  part  of  realms  of  good- will), 
in  an  effort  to  find  better  means  than  wars  for 
the  settlement  of  human  quarrels.  Success  could 
not  be  expected  at  once,  but  it  is  something  to 
have  honestly,  earnestly  tried.  The  great  man 
would  have  judged  failures  with  indulgence,  for 
he  well  knew  how  others'  dispositions  are  to  be 
taken  into  account.  "In  vain,"  he  had  said,  "is 
it  to  expect  that  our  aim  is  to  be  accomplished 
by  fond  wishes  for  peace."  2 

And  at  the  present  hour,  when  it  seems  to  the 

1  To  Lafayette,  Aug.  15,  1786.  Cf.  below,  p.  347.  Same  views  in 
Franklin,  who  had  written  to  his  friend  David  Hartley,  one  of  the 
British  plenipotentiaries  for  the  peace:  "What  would  you  think  of 
a  proposition,  if  I  should  make  it,  of  a  family  compact  between 
England,  France,  and  America?  .  .  .  What  repeated  follies  are  those 
repeated  wars !  You  do  not  want  to  conquer  and  govern  one  another. 
Why,  then,  should  you  continually  be  employed  in  injuring  and  de- 
stroying one  another  ?"  Passy,  Oct.  ti6,  1783.  2June  15,  1782. 


274         WASHINGTON  AND  THE  FRENCH 

author  of  these  lines  that,  as  he  writes,  his  ears 
are  filled  with  the  sound  of  guns,  wafted  by  the 
wind  over  the  submarine-haunted  ocean,  what 
would  be  the  feeling  of  our  former  commander 
if  he  saw  what  is  taking  place,  and  the  stand  made 
by  the  descendants  of  those  soldiers  intrusted 
years  ago  to  his  leadership  ?  Perhaps  he  would 
think,  as  he  did,  when  told  by  Lafayette  of  a 
recent  visit  to  the  battle-fields  of  Frederick  II  of 
Prussia :  * '  To  view  the  several  fields  of  battle  over 
which  you  passed  could  not,  among  other  sensa- 
tions, have  failed  to  excite  this  thought:  'Here 
have  fallen  thousands  of  gallant  spirits  to  satisfy 
the  ambitions  of  their  sovereign,  or  to  support 
them  perhaps  in  acts  of  oppression  and  injustice. 
Melancholy  reflection !  For  what  wise  purpose 
does  Providence  permit  this  ? ' ' 

Perhaps — who  knows? — considering  the  silent 
resolution,  abnegation,  and  unanimity  with  which 
the  whole  people,  from  the  day  when  war  was  de- 
clared on  them  by  a  relentless  enemy,  tried  to  up- 
hold the  cause  of  independence  and  liberalism  in 
a  world- wide  conflict,  the  leader  might  be  tempted 
to  write  once  more  in  the  pages  of  his  private 
journal  the  three  words  he  had  written  on  May 
i,  1781.  Who  knows  ?  Of  one  thing  we  are  sure, 
no  approval  could  please  us  more  than  that  of 
the  commander-in-chief  of  former  days. 


IV 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ON  two  tragic  occasions,  at  a  century's  dis- 
tance, the  fate  of  the  United  States  has 
trembled  in  the  balance :  would  they  be  a 
free  nation?  Would  they  continue  to  be  one 
nation  ?  A  leader  was  wanted  on  both  occasions, 
a  very  different  one  in  each  case.  This  boon  was 
granted  to  the  American  people,  who  had  a  Wash- 
ington when  a  Washington  was  needed,  and  a 
Lincoln  when  a  Lincoln  could  save  them.  Neither 
would  have  adequately  performed  the  other's  task. 
A  century  of  gradually  increasing  prosperity 
had  elapsed  when  came  the  hour  of  the  nation's 
second  trial.  Though  it  may  seem  to  us  small, 
compared  with  what  we  have  seen  in  our  days, 
the  development  had  been  considerable,  the  scat- 
tered colonies  of  yore  had  become  one  of  the 
great  Powers  of  the  world,  with  domains  reaching 
from  one  ocean  to  the  other;  the  immense  conti- 
nent had  been  explored;  new  cities  were  dotting 
the  wilderness  of  former  days.  When  in  1803 
France  had,  of  her  own  will,  ceded  the  Louisiana 
territories,  which  have  been  divided  since  into 
fourteen  States,  minds  had  been  staggered ;  many 
in  the  Senate  had  shown  themselves  averse  to  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty,  thinking  that  it  might 

277 


278  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

prove  rather  a  curse  than  a  boon.  "As  to  Louisi- 
ana, this  new,  immense,  unbounded  world,"  Sen- 
ator White,  of  Delaware,  had  said,  "if  it  should 
ever  be  incorporated  into  this  Union  ...  I  be- 
lieve it  will  be  the  greatest  curse  that  could  at 
present  befall  us;  it  may  be  productive  of  in- 
numerable evils,  and  especially  of  one  that  I  fear 
even  to  look  upon." 

What  the  senator  feared  to  look  upon  was  the 
possibility,  awful  and  incredible  as  it  might  seem, 
of  people  being  so  rash  as  to  go  and  live  beyond 
the  Mississippi.  Attempts  would,  of  course,  be 
made,  he  thought,  to  prevent  actions  which  would 
entail  such  grave  responsibilities  for  the  govern- 
ment; but  those  meritorious  attempts  on  the 
part  of  the  authorities  would  probably  fail.  "It 
would  be  as  well  to  pretend  to  inhibit  the  fish  from 
swimming  in  the  sea.  ...  To  every  man  ac- 
quainted with  the  manner  in  which  our  Western 
country  has  been  settled,  such  an  idea  must  be 
chimerical."  People  will  go,  "that  very  popula- 
tion will  go,  that  would  otherwise  occupy  part 
of  our  present  territory."  The  results  will  be 
unspeakable:  "Our  citizens  will  be  removed  to 
the  immense  distance  of  two  or  three  thousand 
miles  from  the  capital  of  the  Union,  where  they 
will  scarcely  ever  feel  the  rays  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment; their  affections  will  be  alienated;  they 
will  gradually  begin  to  view  us  as  strangers ;  they 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  279 

will  form  other  commercial  connections,  and  our 
interests  will  become  distinct." 

The  treaty  had  been  ratified,  however,  and  the 
prediction,  not  of  Senator  White,  of  Delaware,  but 
of  Senator  Jackson,  of  Georgia,  has  proved  true, 
the  latter  having  stated  in  his  answer  that  if  they 
both  could  "return  at  the  proper  period,"  that  is, 
"in  a  century,"  they  would  find  that  the  region 
was  not,  as  had  been  forecasted,  "a  howling  wil- 
derness," but  "the  seat  of  science  and  civil- 
ization." l  The  fact  is  that  if  the  two  senators 
had  been  able  to  return  at  the  appointed  date, 
they  would  have  seen  the  exposition  of  St.  Louis. 

Progress  had  been  constant ;  modern  inventions 

1  Debates  and  Proceedings  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  vol. 
XIII,  col.  33  ff.,  November  2  and  3, 1803.  Senator  White  had  also  ob- 
jected that  the  price,  of  fifteen  million  dollars,  was  too  high;  while 
the  French  plenipotentiary,  Barbe-Marbois,  had  observed  that  the 
lands  still  unoccupied,  to  be  handed  to  the  American  Government 
"would  have  a  value  of  several  billions  before  a  century  had  elapsed," 
in  which  he  was  no  bad  prophet.  Marbois  added :  "Those  who  knew 
the  importance  of  a  perfect  understanding  between  these  two  coun- 
tries attached  more  value  to  the  twenty  million  francs  set  apart  for 
the  American  claims  than  to  the  sixty  offered  to  France."  In  ac- 
cordance again  with  Senator  White,  the  deciding  motive  had  not 
been  that  longing  for  "a  perfect  understanding"  mentioned  by  Mar- 
bois, but  a  feeling  that  Louisiana  would,  at  the  next  war,  "  inevitably 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  British."  "Of  course,  it  would,"  future 
Marshal  Berthier,  who  was  averse  to  the  cession,  had  observed  when 
the  point  had  been  mentioned  at  the  council  held  at  the  Tuileries, 
before  the  First  Consul  Bonaparte,  on  Easter  Day,  1803,  "but  Han- 
over would  just  as  soon  be  in  our  hands,  and  an  exchange  would 
take  place  at  the  peace.  .  .  .  Remember  this:  no  navy  without 
colonies;  no  colonies  without  a  navy."  Barbe-Marbois,  Histoire 
de  la  Louisiane,  Paris,  1829,  pp.  295,  315,  330. 


280  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

had  brought  the  remotest  parts  of  the  country 
nearer  together.  The  telegraph  had  enabled  "the 
rays  of  the  general  government"  to  reach  the 
farthest  regions  of  the  territory.  That  extraor- 
dinary attempt,  the  first  transcontinental  rail- 
road, was  soon  to  be  begun  (1863)  and  was  to  be 
finished  six  years  later. 

And  now  all  seemed  to  be  in  doubt  again;  the 
nation  was  young,  wealthy,  powerful,  prosperous; 
it  had  vast  domains  and  resources,  no  enemies, 
and  yet  it  looked  as  though  her  fate  would  parallel 
that  of  the  old  empires  of  which  Tacitus  speaks, 
and  which,  without  foes,  crumble  to  pieces  under 
their  own  weight. 

Within  her  frontiers  elements  of  destruction  or 
disruption  had  been  growing;  animosities  were 
embittered  among  people  equally  brave,  bold,  and 
sure  of  their  rights.  The  edifice  raised  by  Wash- 
ington was  shaking  on  its  base ;  a  catastrophe  was 
at  hand,  such  a  one  as  he  had  himself  foreseen  as 
possible  from  the  first.  Slavery,  he  had  thought, 
should  be  gradually  but  thoroughly  abolished. 
"Your  late  purchase,"  he  had  written  to  Lafay- 
ette, "of  an  estate  in  the  colony  of  Cayenne,  with 
a  view  of  emancipating  the  slaves  on  it,  is  a  gen- 
erous and  noble  proof  of  humanity.  Would  to 
God  a  like  spirit  would  diffuse  itself  generally  into 
the  minds  of  the  people  of  this  country,  but  I 
despair  of  seeing  it."  1  And  to  John  Francis 

*May  10,  1786. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  281 

Mercer:  "I  never  mean  (unless  some  particular 
circumstance  should  compel  me  to  it)  to  possess 
another  slave  by  purchase,  it  being  among  my 
first  wishes  to  see  some  plan  adopted  by  which 
slavery  in  this  country  may  be  abolished  by  slow, 
sure,  and  imperceptible  degrees."1  For  many 
reasons  the  steadiness  of  the  new-born  Union 
caused  him  anxiety.  "We  are  known,"  he  had 
written  to  Doctor  W.  Gordon,  "by  no  other  char- 
acter among  nations  than  as  the  United  States. 
.  .  .  When  the  bond  of  union  gets  once  broken 
everything  ruinous  to  our  future  prospects  is  to 
be  apprehended.  The  best  that  can  come  of  it, 
in  my  humble  opinion,  is  that  we  shall  sink  into 
obscurity,  unless  our  civil  broils  should  keep  us 
in  remembrance  and  fill  the  page  of  history  with 
the  direful  consequences  of  them."  2 

The  dread  hour  had  now  struck,  and  civil  broils 
meant  to  fill  the  page  of  history  were  at  hand. 
Then  it  was  that,  in  a  middle-sized  city  of  one 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  not  yet  a  world- 
famous  one,  Chicago  by  name,  the  Republican 
convention,  assembled  there  for  the  first  time, 
met  to  choose  a  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
and  on  Friday,  i8th  of  May,  1860,  selected  a 
man  whom  my  predecessor  of  those  days,  an- 
nouncing in  an  imprinted  report  the  news  to  his 
government,  described  as  "a  man  almost  un- 
known, Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln."  And  so  he  was; 

1  September  9,  1786.  J  July  8,  1783. 


282  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

his  own  party  had  hesitated  to  nominate  him; 
only  on  the  third  ballot,  after  two  others  in  which 
he  did  not  lead,  the  convention  decided  that  the 
fate  of  the  party,  of  abolitionism,  and  of  the 
Union  would  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  that  "man 
almost  unknown,"  Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  search-light  of  history  has  since  been 
turned  on  the  most  obscure  parts  of  his  career; 
every  incident  of  it  is  known;  many  sayings  of 
his  to  which  neither  he  nor  his  hearers  attributed 
any  importance  at  the  moment  have  become 
household  words.  Biographies  innumerable,  in 
pamphlet  form  or  in  many  volumes,  have  told  us 
of  the  deeds  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  his  appear- 
ance, of  his  peculiarities,  of  his  virtues,  and  of 
the  part  he  played  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
not  alone  the  world  of  his  day,  but  that  of  after- 
time.  For  not  only  the  souvenir  of  his  personality 
and  of  his  examples,  and  the  consequences  of 
what  he  did,  survive  among  us,  but  so  do  also  a 
number  of  his  clean-cut,  memorable,  guiding  sen- 
tences which  continue  alive  and  active  among 
men.  His  mind  is  still  living. 

Few  suspected  such  a  future  at  the  time  of  his 
election.  "We  all  remember,"  wrote,  years  later, 
the  French  Academician,  Prevost-Paradol,  "the 
anxiety  with  which  we  awaited  the  first  words  of 
that  President  then  unknown,  upon  whom  a 
heavy  task  had  fallen,  and  from  whose  advent  to 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  283 

power  might  be  dated  the  ruin  or  regeneration  of 
his  country.  All  we  knew  was  that  he  had  sprung 
from  the  humblest  walks  of  life;  that  his  youth 
had  been  spent  in  manual  labor;  that  he  had  then 
risen,  by  degrees,  in  his  town,  in  his  county,  and 
in  his  State.  What  was  this  favorite  of  the  peo- 
ple ?  Democratic  societies  are  liable  to  errors 
which  are  fatal  to  them.  But  as  soon  as  Mr. 
Lincoln  arrived  in  Washington,  as  soon  as  he 
spoke,  all  our  doubts  and  fears  were  dissipated, 
and  it  seemed  to  us  that  destiny  itself  had  pro- 
nounced in  favor  of  the  good  cause,  since  in  such 
an  emergency  it  had  given  to  the  country  an  honest 
man." 

Well  indeed  might  people  have  wondered  and 
felt  anxious  when  they  remembered  how  little 
training  in  greatest  affairs  the  new  ruler  had  had, 
and  the  incredible  difficulty  of  the  problems  he 
would  have  to  solve:  to  solve,  his  heart  bleeding 
at  the  very  thought,  for  he  had  to  fight,  "not 
enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies !" 

No  romance  of  adventure  reads  more  like  a  ro- 
mance than  the  true  story  of  Lincoln's  youth  and 
of  the  wanderings  of  his  family,  from  Virginia  to 
Kentucky,  from  Kentucky  to  Indiana,  from  Indi- 
ana to  the  newly-formed  State  of  Illinois,  having 
first  to  clear  a  part  of  the  forest,  then  to  build 
a  doorless,  windowless,  floorless  log  cabin,  with 
beds  of  leaves,  and  one  room  for  all  the  uses  of 


284  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  nine  inmates :  Lincoln,  the  grandson  of  a  man 
killed  by  the  Indians,  the  son  of  a  father  who 
never  succeeded  in  anything,  and  whose  utmost 
literary  accomplishment,  taught  him  by  his  wife, 
and  which  he  had  in  common  with  the  father  of 
Shakespeare,  consisted  in  "bunglingly  writing  his 
own  name,"  the  whole  family  leading  a  life  in 
comparison  with  which  that  of  Robinson  Crusoe 
was  one  of  sybaritic  enjoyment.  That  in  those 
trackless,  neighborless,  bookless  parts  of  the  coun- 
try the  future  President  could  learn  and  educate 
himself  was  the  first  great  wonder  of  his  life. 
His  school-days,  in  schools  as  primitive  as  the  rest 
of  his  surroundings,  attended  at  spare  moments, 
did  not  amount,  put  together,  to  so  much  as  one 
year,  during  which  he  learned,  as  he  stated  after- 
ward, how  "to  read,  write,  and  cipher  to  the  rule 
of  three,  but  that  was  all  ...  till  within  his 
twenty-third  year,  he  was  almost  constantly 
handling  that  most  useful  instrument" — an  axe, 
not  a  pen.1  The  event  proved  once  more  that 
learning  does  not  so  much  depend  upon  the  mas- 
ter's teaching  as  upon  the  pupil's  desire.  This 
desire  never  left  him;  as  recorded  by  himself,  he 
"nearly  mastered  the  six  books  of  Euclid  since 
he  was  a  member  of  Congress." 

But  no  book,  school,  nor  talk  with  refined  men 

1  "Short  Autobiography,  written  at  the  request  of  a  friend,"  Com- 
plete Works,  ed.  Nicolay  and  Hay,  1905,  pp.  26,  27. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  285 

would  have  taught  him  what  this  rough  life  did. 
Confronted  every  day  and  every  hour  of  the  day 
with  problems  which  had  to  be  solved,  problems 
of  food,  of  clothing,  of  shelter,  of  escaping  disease 
— "ague  and  fever  ...  by  which  they  [the  people 
of  the  place]  were  greatly  discouraged"  1 — of  de- 
veloping mind  and  body  with  scarcely  any  books 
but  those  borrowed  from  distant  neighbors,  in 
doubt  most  of  the  time  as  to  what  was  going  on 
in  the  wide  world,  he  got  the  habit  of  seeing,  de- 
ciding, and  acting  for  himself.  Accustomed  from 
childhood  to  live  surrounded  by  the  unknown  and 
to  meet  the  unexpected,  in  a  region  "with  many 
bears,"  he  wrote  later,  "and  other  wild  animals 
still  in  the  woods,"  his  soul  learned  to  be  aston- 
ished at  nothing  and,  instead  of  losing  any  time 
in  useless  wondering,  to  seek  at  once  the  way 
out  of  the  difficulty.  What  the  forest,  what  the 
swamp,  what  the  river  taught  Lincoln  cannot  be 
overestimated.  After  long  years  of  it,  and  shorter 
years  at  now- vanished  New  Salem,  then  at  Spring- 
field, at  Vandalia,  the  former  capital  of  Illinois, 
where  he  met  some  descendants  of  his  precursors 
in  the  forest,  the  French  "coureurs  de  bois,"  2 

1  Ibid .,  28,  29. 

2  Some  French  settlements  were  still  in  existence  in  the  region, 
and  were  still  French.     "The  French  settlements  about  Kaskaskia 
retained  much  of  their  national  character,  and  the  pioneers  from  the 
South  who  visited  them  or  settled  among  them  never  ceased  to 
wonder  at  their  gayety,  their  peaceable  industry,  and  their  domestic 
affection,  which  they  did  not  care  to  dissemble  and  conceal  like  their 


286  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

after  years  of  political  apprenticeship  which  had 
given  him  but  a  limited  notoriety,  almost  sud- 
denly he  found  himself  transferred  to  the  post 
of  greatest  honor  and  greatest  danger.  And 
what  then  would  say  the  "man  almost  unknown," 
the  backwoodsman  of  yesterday  ?  What  would 
he  say  ?  What  did  he  say  ?  The  right  thing. 

He  was  accustomed  not  to  be  surprised,  but  to 
ponder,  decide,  and  act.  The  pondering  part  was 
misunderstood  by  many  who  never  ceased  in 
his  day  to  complain  and  remonstrate  about  his 
supposed  hesitancy ;  many  of  Napoleon's  generals, 
and  for  the  same  cause,  spoke  with  disgust,  at 
times,  of  their  chief's  hesitations,  as  if  a  weak  will 
were  one  of  his  faults.  Confronted  with  circum- 
stances which  were  so  extraordinary  as  to  be  new 
to  all,  Lincoln  was  the  man  least  astonished  in 
the  government.  His  rough  and  shrewd  instinct 
proved  of  better  avail  than  the  clever  minds  of  his 
more-refined  and  better-instructed  seconds.  It 
was  Lincoln's  instinct  which  checked  Seward's 
complicated  schemes  and  dangerous  calculations. 
Lincoln  could  not  calculate  so  cleverly,  but  he 
could  guess  better. 

shy  and  reticent  neighbors.  It  was  a  daily  spectacle  which  never 
lost  its  strangeness  for  the  Tennesseeans  and  Kentuckians  to  see  the 
Frenchman  returning  from  his  work  greeted  by  his  wife  and  children 
with  embraces  of  welcome  'at  the  gate  of  his  dooryard,  and  in  view 
of  all  the  villagers.'  The  natural  and  kindly  fraternization  of  the 
Frenchmen  with  the  Indians  was  also  a  cause  of  wonder."  Nicolay 
and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  1904,  I,  58. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  287 

In  writing  the  words  quoted  above,  Prevost- 
Paradol  was  alluding  to  the  now  famous  first  in- 
augural address.  But  even  before  Lincoln  had 
reached  Washington  he  had,  so  to  say,  given  his 
measure.  Passing  through  Philadelphia  on  his 
way  to  the  capital,  he  had  been  entertained  at 
Independence  Hall  and,  addressing  the  audience 
gathered  there,  had  told  how  he  had  often  medi- 
tated on  the  virtues  and  dangers  of  the  men  who 
used  to  meet  within  those  walls  in  the  days  when 
the  existence  of  the  nation  was  at  stake,  and  on 
the  famous  Declaration  signed  there  by  them. 
The  purport  of  it,  said  the  new  President,  is 
"that  in  due  time  the  weights  should  be  lifted 
from  the  shoulders  of  all  men,  and  that  all  should 
have  an  equal  chance."  And  he  added:  "Now, 
my  friends,  can  this  country  be  saved  on  that 
basis  ?  If  it  can,  I  will  consider  myself  one  of 
the  happiest  of  men  in  the  world  if  I  can  help  to 
save  it.  ...  If  it  cannot  be  saved  upon  that 
principle  ...  I  would  rather  be  assassinated  on 
this  spot  than  to  surrender  it."1 

France  was  then  an  empire,  governed  by  Napo- 
leon III.  During  the  great  struggle  of  four  years, 
part  of  the  French  people  were  for  the  North, 
and  part  for  the  South ;  they  should  not  be  blamed : 
it  was  the  same  in  America. 

But,  to  a  man,  the  increasing  numbers  of  French 

1  February  22,  1861. 


288  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Liberals,  making  ready  for  a  definitive  attempt  at 
a  republican  form  of  government  in  their  own 
land,  were  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  Union.  The  American  exam- 
ple was  the  great  one  which  gave  heart  to  our 
most  progressive  men.  Americans  had  proved 
that  republican  government  was  possible  in  a 
great  modern  country  by  having  one.  If  it 
broke  to  pieces,  so  would  break  the  hopes  of  those 
among  us  who  trusted  that  one  day  we  would 
have  one,  too — as  we  have.  These  men  followed 
with  dire  anxiety  the  events  in  America. 

They  had  all  known  Lafayette,  who  died  only 
in  1834,  a  lifelong  apostle  of  liberty  and  of  the 
American  cause.  The  tradition  left  by  him  had 
been  continued  by  the  best  thinkers  and  the  most 
enlightened  and  generous  minds  France  had  pro- 
duced in  the  course  of  the  century,  such  men  as 
Tocqueville,  Laboulaye,  Gasparin,  Pellet'an,  and 
many  others.  Constant  friends  of  the  United 
States,  and  stanch  supporters  of  the  liberal  prin- 
ciples, they  had,  so  to  say,  taken  the  torch  from 
the  hands  of  dying  Lafayette  and  passed  it  on 
to  the  new  generation.  Tocqueville,  who  was 
not  to  see  the  great  crisis,  had  published  in  1835, 
with  extraordinary  success,  his  work  on  American 
democracy,  showing  that  individual  liberty,  equal- 
ity for  all,  and  decentralization  were  the  goal 
toward  which  mankind  was  steadily  moving,  and 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  289 

that  such  a  system,  with  all  its  defects,  was  better 
than  autocratic  government  with  all  its  guar- 
antees. Although  living  under  a  monarchy,  he 
could  not  help  sneering  at  the  kindness  of  those 
omnipotent  governments  who,  in  their  paternal 
desire  to  spare  the  people  they  govern  all  trouble, 
would  like  to  spare  them  even  the  "trouble  of 
thinking." 

Those  who  felt  like  him  eloquently  defended 
in  their  books,  pamphlets,  and  articles,  when 
the  crisis  came,  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and 
strongly  influenced  public  opinion  in  European 
countries.  Such  was  the  case,  for  example,  with 
the  America  before  Europe  of  Agenor  de  Gasparin, 
full  of  enthusiasm  for  the  States,  and  of  confidence 
in  the  ultimate  issue.  "No,"  said  the  author  in 
the  conclusion  of  his  work,  published  early  in  1862, 
"the  sixteenth  President  of  the  Union  will  not 
be  its  last;  no,  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  that  na- 
tion will  not  prove  her  last ;  her  flag  will  come  out 
of  the  war,  rent  by  bullets,  blackened  by  powder, 
but  more  glorious  than  ever,  and  without  having 
dropped  in  the  storm  any  of  its  thirty-four  stars."1 

To  Gasparin  Lincoln  wrote  thereupon:  "You 
are  much  admired  in  America  for  the  ability  of 
your  writings,  and  much  loved  for  your  gener- 
osity to  us  and  your  devotion  to  liberal  principles 
generally.  ...  I  am  very  happy  to  know  that 

1  VAmerique  devant  V Europe,  Paris,  1862;  conclusion. 


290  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

my  course  has  not  conflicted  with  your  judgment 
of  propriety  and  policy.  I  can  only  say  that  I 
have  acted  upon  my  best  convictions  without 
selfishness  or  malice,  and  that,  by  the  help  of 
God,  I  shall  continue  to  do  so."1 

But  there  were,  withal,  men  among  us  who, 
remembering  the  trials  of  our  revolutionary  years, 
the  most  terrible  any  nation  had  gone  through, 
inclined  to  consider  that,  as  Tocqueville  had  said, 
"to  think"  was  indeed  a  real  trouble,  and  that 
thinkers  .might  prove  very  troublesome  people. 
Those  men,  too,  watched  with  care  what  was 
going  on  in  America;  the  quiet  development  of 
the  country  under  democratic  institutions  caused 
them  little  enough  joy,  as  being  the  actual  con- 
demnation of  their  most  cherished  theories.  They 
kept  saying:  the  country  has  no  neighbors,  it  is 
exposed  to  no  storm;  any  system  is  good  enough 
under  such  exceptional  conditions.  If  there  was 
any  storm,  the  worthlessness  of  such  institutions 
would  soon  be  obvious.  And  it  had  come  to  pass 
that  the  storm  had  arisen,  and  that  a  man  "al- 
most unknown"  had  been  placed  at  the  helm. 

Then  developed  that  famous  struggle  between 
equally  brave  opponents,  with  its  various  fortunes, 
its  miseries,  its  hecatombs,  and  the  coming  of 
days  so  dark  that  it  often  seemed  as  though 
there  remained  little  chance  for  the  survival  of 

1  Washington,  August,  4,  1862. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  291 

one  great,  powerful,  united  nation:  the  hatreds 
were  so  deep,  the  losses  so  immense.  One  of  the 
generals  who  served  the  cause  of  the  Union  was 
French,  and  as  a  colonel  first  commanded  a  regi- 
ment, the  55th  New  York,  otherwise  called  the 
Lafayette  Guards,  in  which  French  blood  pre- 
dominated, and  who  wore  the  red  trousers,  red 
kepi,  and  blue  coats  of  the  French  army.  It  was 
before  the  war  one  of  those  regiments  whose  func- 
tions, owing  to  the  prevalenpe  of  peace,  had  for 
a  long  time  been  of  the  least  warlike,  mainly 
consisting  in  parades  and  banquets,  so  much  so 
that,  with  that  tendency  to  irony  rarely  lacking 
in  Gauls,  those  Gardes  Lafayette  had  nicknamed 
themselves  ' '  Gardes  La  f ourchette. ' ' l  Wax  came, 
the  country  was  changed,  a  new  spirit  pervaded 
the  nation,  and  the  Gardes  La  fourchette  became 
Lafayette  again,  and  worthy  of  the  name. 

General  de  Trobriand  has  left  a  captivating 
account  of  the  campaign2  and  of  what  his  first 
regiment  did  in  it,  beginning  with  military  in- 

1  "L'esprit  Gaulois,  toujours  moqueur,  avait  saisi  le  c6te  plaisant 
de  cet  inutile  etalage  d'epaulettes  et  de  tambours,  et  les  officiers  du 
55*  New  York  qui,  a  1'heure  du  danger,  prodiguerent  pour  leur 
nouvelle  patrie  le  sang  francais  sous  la  direction  d'un  chef  habile  et 
vaillant,  M.  de  Trobriand,  s'etaient  donnes  a  eux-memes,  dans  1'un 
des  repas  de  corps  qui  terminent  toujours  ces  ceremonies,  le  titre 
joyeux  de  'Gardes  La  fourchette.'"     Comte  de  Paris,  Histoire  de  la 
Guerre  civile  en  Amerique,  1874,  I,  311. 

2  Quatre  ans  de  campagnes  d  I'armee  du  Potomac,  par  Regis  de 
Trobriand,  ex-Major  General  au  service  volontaire  des  Etats   Unis 


292  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

struction  hastily  imparted  before  the  start  by 
French  sergeants,  "some  of  whom  had  made  war 
in  Algeria,  others  in  the  Crimea  or  Italy,  familiar, 
all  of  them,  with  field  service";  then  the  coming 
of  his  soldiers  to  Washington,  as  yet  a  small, 
sparsely  peopled  city,  with  ' '  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
for  its  principal  artery";  their  following  Rock 
Creek,  not  yet  a  public  park,  "cadencing  their 
march  by  singing  the  Marseillaise  or  the  Chant 
des  Girondins,  hymns  unknown  to  the  echoes  of 
the  region,  which  repeated  them  for  the  first 
time,  perhaps  the  last,"  and  crossing  Chain 
Bridge  to  camp  beyond  the  Potomac. 

On  one  memorable  day,  in  the  winter  of  1862, 
the  regiment,  encamped  then  at  Tennallytown, 
entertained  Lincoln  himself.  The  occasion  was 
the  presentation  to  it  by  the  hands  of  the  President 
of  two  flags,  a  French  and  an  American  one. 
The  day  chosen  had  been  the  8th  of  January,  as 
being  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  New  Or- 
leans, won  by  Andrew  Jackson,  some  of  whose 


d'Amerique,  Paris,  1867,  2  vols.  As  is  well  known,  two  French  princes 
took  part  in  the  war  as  staff-officers  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
the  Comte  de  Paris  and  the  Due  de  Chartres.  An  American  officer 
who  was  present  told  me  that,  whether  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  the 
Comte  de  Paris  had  the  habit  of  stooping.  During  a  severe  engage- 
ment he  was  asked  to  carry  an  order  across  an  open  field,  quite  ex- 
posed to  the  enemy's  fire.  He  took  the  order,  straightened  on  his 
saddle,  crossed  the  field  quite  erect,  fulfilled  his  mission,  recrossed 
the  field,  keeping  perfectly  straight,  and  when  back  in  the  lines, 
stooped  again. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  293 

troops  were  French  Creoles,  who,  they  too,  had 
fought  to  the  sound  of  the  Marseillaise. 

Mrs.  Lincoln  had  accompanied  the  President. 
There  was  a  banquet  which  the  regiment  had  had 
cooked  by  its  own  soldier-cooks,  who  surpassed 
themselves.  "The  President  heartily  partook  of 
the  meal.  Never,  was  he  pleased  to  say,  had  he 
eaten  so  well  since  he  had  entered  the  White 
Hpuse.  He  wanted  to  taste  of  everything,  and 
his  gayety  and  good  humor  showed  well  enough 
how  much  he  enjoyed  this  diversion  in  the  midst 
of  the  anxious  cares  with  which  he  was  oppressed 
at  that  moment."1 

There  were  toasts,  of  course;  the  then  Colonel 
de  Trobriand  drank  to  the  "prompt  re-establish- 
ment of  the  Union,  not  so  prompt,  however,  that 
the  55th  may  not  first  have  time  to  do  something 
for  it  on  the  battlefield."  President  Lincoln  an- 
swered good-humoredly :  "Since  the  Union  is  not 
to  be  re-established  before  the  55th  has  had  its 
battle,  I  drink  to  the  battle  of  the  55th,  and  wish 
that  it  may  take  place  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  55th  had  its  battle,  and  many  others,  too; 
the  beautiful  American  flag  handed  to  it  on  the 
8th  of  January  was  torn  to  shreds  by  grape-shot; 
at  Fredericksburg  only  the  staff  was  left;  during 
the  course  of  that  terrible  day  even  the  staff  was 
broken,  and  that  was  the  end  of  it.  It  was  also 

1  Qualre  ans  de  campagnes,  I,  131. 


294  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  end  of  the  55th:  reduced  to  210  men,  it  was 
merged  into  the  33d. 

Lincoln's  instinct,  his  good  sense,  his  personal 
disinterestedness,  his  warmth  of  heart  for  friend 
or  foe,  his  high  aims,  led  him  through  the  awful 
years  of  anguish  and  bloodshed  during  which, 
ceaselessly,  increased  the  number  of  fields  dotted 
with  tombs,  and  no  one  knew,  so  great  were  the 
odds,  whether  there  would  be  one  powerful  nation 
or  two  less  powerful,  inimical  to  one  another. 
They  led  him  through  the  worst  and  through  the 
best  hours;  and  that  of  triumph  found  him  none 
other  than  what  he  had  ever  been  before,  a  shrewd 
man  of  sense,  a  convinced  man  of  duty,  the  de- 
voted servant  of  his  country,  but  with  deeper  fur- 
rows on  his  face  and  more  melancholy  in  his  heart. 
"We  must  not  be  enemies." 

A  French  traveller  who  saw  him  at  his  second 
inauguration  has  thus  described  him:  "I  shall 
never  forget  the  deep  impression  I  felt  when  I  saw 
come  on  to  the  platform  the  strange-looking  great 
man  to  whom  the  American  people  had  been  so 
happy  as  to  intrust  their  destinies.  The  gait  was 
heavy,  slow,  irregular;  the  body  long,  lean,  over 
six  feet,  with  stooping  shoulders,  the  long  arms  of 
a  boatman,  the  large  hands  of  a  carpenter,  ex- 
traordinary hands,  with  feet  in  proportion.  .  .  . 
The  turned-down  shirt-collar  uncovered  the  pro- 
truding muscles  of  a  yellow  neck,  above  which 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  295 

shot  forth  a  mass  of  black  hair,  thick,  and  bris- 
tling as  a  bunch  of  pine-boughs;  a  face  of  irre- 
sistible attraction. 

"From  this  coarse  bark  emerged  a  forehead 
and  eyes  belonging  to  a  superior  nature.  In  this 
body  was  sheathed  a  soul  wondrous  by  its  great- 
ness and  moral  beauty.  On  the  brow,  deep-fur- 
rowed with  lines,  could  be  detected  the  thoughts 
and  anxieties  of  the  statesman;  and  in  the  large 
black  eyes,  deep  and  penetrating,  whose  dominant 
expression  was  good-will  and  kindness  mixed 
with  melancholy,  one  discovered  an  inexhaustible 
charity,  giving  to  the  word  its  highest  meaning, 
that  is,  perfect  love  for  mankind."1 

The  nation  was  saved,  and  when  the  work  was 
done  Lincoln  went  to  his  doom  and  fell,  as  he  had 
long  foreseen,  a  victim  to  the  cause  for  which  he 
had  fought. 

When  the  news  of  his  tragic  death  reached 

1  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  Alphonse  Jouault.  The  work  was  begun 
in  Washington  at  the  time  of  Lincoln's  assassination,  which  the 
author  witnessed,  but  printed  only  in  1875.  The  text  of  the  second 
inaugural  address  had  been  read  in  France  with  great  admiration. 
The  famous  bishop  of  Orleans,  Dupanloup,  wrote  concerning  it  to 
Augustin  Cochin:  "Mr.  Lincoln  expresses  with  solemn  and  touch- 
ing gravity  the  feelings  which,  I  am  sure,  pervade  superior  souls 
in  the  North  as  in  the  South.  ...  I  thank  you  for  having  made 
me  read  this  beautiful  page  of  the  history  of  great  men,  and  I  beg 
you  to  tell  Mr.  Bigelow  of  my  sympathetic  sentiments.  I  would 
hold  it  an  honor  if  he  were  so  good  as  to  convey  an  expression  of 
them  to  Mr.  Lincoln."  Orleans,  April  2,  1865;  an  appendix  to 
Montalembert's  Victoire  du  Nord,  Paris,  1865. 


296  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

France,  the  emotion  was  intense;  party  lines  at 
that  solemn  hour  disappeared  for  a  moment,  and 
the  country  was  unanimous  in  the  expression  of 
her  horror.  The  Emperor  and  Empress  tele- 
graphed their  condolences  to  Mrs.  Lincoln;  the 
Senate  and  Chamber  voted  addresses  of  sympathy; 
M.  Rouher,  the  premier,  interrupted  by  applause 
at  every  word,  expressed  himself  as  follows  in  pro- 
posing the  vote:  "Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln  has  dis- 
played in  the  afflicting  struggle  which  convulses 
his  country  that  calm  firmness  which  is  a  neces- 
sary condition  for  the  accomplishment  of  great 
duties.  After  victory  he  had  shown  himself  gen- 
erous, moderate,  and  conciliatory."  Then  fol- 
lowed these  remarkable  words:  "The  first  chas- 
tisement that  Providence  inflicts  on  crime  is  to 
render  it  powerless  to  retard  the  march  of  good. 
.  .  .  The  work  of  appeasement  commenced  by 
a  great  citizen  will  be  completed  by  the  national 
will." 

Addressing  the  Chamber  in  the  same  strain,  its 
President,  Mr.  Schneider,  said:  "That  execrable 
crime  has  revolted  all  that  is  noble  in  the  heart 
of  France.  Nowhere  has  more  profound  or  more 
universal  emotion  been  felt  than  in  our  country. 
.  .  .  After  having  shown  his  immovable  firmness 
in  the  struggle,  Mr.  Lincoln,  by  the  wisdom  of  his 
language  and  of  his  views,  seemed  destined  to  bring 
about  a  fruitful  and  durable  reconciliation  be- 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  297 

tween  the  sons  of  America.  .  .  .  France  ardently 
desires  the  re-establishment  of  peace  in  the  midst 
of  that  great  nation,  her  ally  and  her  friend." 

But  more  noteworthy  than  all  was  the  feeling 
of  unofficial  France,  that  of  the  whole  people. 
Trying  to  describe  it,  the  American  minister  to 
France,  but  recently  taken  from  among  us,  Mr. 
Bigelow,  wrote  home:  "The  press  of  the  metrop- 
olis shows  sufficiently  how  overwhelming  is  the 
public  sentiment";  and  sending,  only  as  samples, 
a  number  of  testimonials  of  sympathy  received 
by  him,  he  added:  "They  will  suffice  to  show  not 
only  how  profoundly  the  nation  was  shocked  by 
the  dreadful  crime  which  terminated  President 
Lincoln's  earthly  career,  but  how  deep  a  hold  he 
had  taken  upon  the  respect  and  affections  of  the 
French  people." 

Once  more,  owing  to  the  death  of  a  great  Amer- 
ican, the  whole  nation  had  been  moved.  From 
thirty-one  French  cities  came  addresses  of  con- 
dolence; students  held  meetings,  unfavorably 
seen  by  the  imperial  police,  little  pleased  to  find 
how  closely  associated  in  the  sentiments  expressed 
therein  were  admiration  for  Lincoln's  work  and 
the  longing  for  a  republic  similar  to  that  over 
which  he  had  presided.  The  youthful  president 
of  such  a  meeting  thus  conveyed  to  Mr.  Bigelow 
the  expression  of  what  was  felt  by  "the  young 
men  of  the  schools":  "In  President  Lincoln  we 


298  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

mourn  a  fellow  citizen;  for  no  country  is  now 
inaccessible,  and  we  consider  as  ours  that  coun- 
try where  there  are  neither  masters  nor  slaves, 
where  every  man  is  free  or  is  righting  to  become 
free. 

"We  are  the  fellow  citizens  of  John  Brown,  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  of  Mr.  Seward.  We  young 
people,  to  whom  the  future  belongs,  must  have 
the  courage  to  found  a  true  democracy,  and  we 
will  have  to  look  beyond  the  ocean  to  learn  how 
a  people  who  have  made  themselves  free  can  pre- 
serve their  freedom.  .  .  . 

"The  President  of  the  great  republic  is  dead, 
but  the  republic  itself  shall  live  forever." 

Deputations  flocked  to  the  American  legation, 
"so  demonstrative"  that  the  police  more  than 
once  interfered,  as  if  to  remind  the  delegates  that 
they  were  not  living  as  yet  in  a  land  of  liberty. 
"I  have  been  occupied  most  of  the  afternoon," 
Bigelow  wrote  to  Seward,  "in  receiving  deputa- 
tions of  students  and  others  who  have  called  to 
testify  their  sorrow  and  sympathy.  Unfortu- 
nately, their  feelings  were  so  demonstrative  in 
some  instances  as  to  provoke  the  intervention  of 
the  police,  who  would  only  allow  them  in  very 
limited  numbers  through  the  streets.  ...  I  am 
sorry  to  hear  that  some  have  been  sent  to  prison 
in  consequence  of  an  intemperate  expression  of 
their  feelings.  I  can  now  count  sixteen  policemen 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  299 

from  my  window  patrolling  about  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, who  occasionally  stop  persons  calling  to 
see  me,  and  in  some  instances,  I  am  told,  send 
them  away."1 

A  unique  thing  happened,  unparalleled  any- 
where else.  A  subscription  was  opened  to  offer  a 
commemorative  medal  in  gold  to  the  unfortunate 
widow,  and  this  again  did  not  overplease  the 
police.  The  idea  had  occurred  to  a  provincial 
paper,  the  Phare  de  la  Loire;  its  success  was  im- 
mediate. All  the  great  names  in  the  Liberal  party 
appeared  on  the  list  of  the  committee,  Victor 
Hugo's  conspicuous  among  them,  and  with  his 
those  of  Etienne  Arago,  Louis  Blanc,  Littre, 
Michelet,  Pelletan,  Edgar  Quinet,  and  others. 
In  order  to  allow  the  poorer  classes  to  take  part, 
and  so  as  to  show  that  the  offering  was  a  truly 
national  one,  the  maximum  for  each  subscriber 
was  limited  to  two  cents. 

The  poorer  classes  took  part,  indeed,  with 
alacrity;  the  necessary  sum  was  promptly  col- 
lected; the  medal  was  struck,  and  it  was  pre- 
sented by  Eugene  Pelletan  to  Mr.  Bigelow,  with 
these  words:  "Tell  Mrs.  Lincoln  that  in  this 
little  box  is  the  heart  of  France."  The  inscrip- 
tion, in  French,  is  an  excellent  summing  up  of 

1  April  28,  1865.  Text  as  well  as  that  of  the  documents  just 
quoted  in  The  Assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  Appendix  to 
Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  1865,  Government  Printing  Office,  1866. 


300  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Lincoln's  character  and  career:  "Dedicated  by 
French  Democracy  to  Lincoln,  President,  twice 
elected,  of  the  United  States — Lincoln,  honest 
man,  who  abolished  slavery,  re-established  the 
Union,  saved  the  Republic,  without  veiling  the 
statue  of  liberty."1 

The  French  press  had  been  unanimous;  from 
the  Royalist  Gazette  de  France  to  the  Liberal  Jour- 
nal  des  Debats  came  expressions  of  admiration  and 
sorrow,  by  the  writers  of  greatest  repute,  present 
or  future  members,  in  many  cases,  of  the  French 
Academy,  Prevost-Paradol,  John  Lemoine,  Emile 
de  Girardin,  the  historian  Henri  Martin,  the  pub- 
licist and  future  member  of  the  National  Assem- 
bly of  1871,  Peyrat,  and  with  them  some  ardent 
Catholics,  like  Montalembert. 

"Who  among  us,"  said  the  Gazette  de  France, 
"would  think  of  pitying  Lincoln  ?  A  public  man, 
he  enters  by  the  death  which  he  has  received  in 
the  midst  of  the  work  of  pacification  after  victory 
into  that  body  of  the  elite  of  the  historic  army 
which  Mr.  Guizot  once  called  the  battalion  of 
Plutarch.  A  Christian,  he  has  just  ascended  be- 
fore the  throne  of  the  final  Judge,  accompanied 
by  the  souls  of  four  million  slaves  created,  like 

1  "D6di6  par  la  Democratic  Francaise  a  Lincoln,  President  deux 
fois  61u  des  Etats  Unis — Lincoln,  honnSte  homme,  abolit  1'esclavage, 
re"tablit  1'union,  sauva  la  RSpublique,  sans  voiler  la  statue  de  la 
Iibert6."  The  medal  is  now  the  property  of  the  President's  son, 
Mr.  Robert  T.  Lincoln. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  301 

ours,  in  the  image  of  God,  and  who  by  a  word  from 
him  have  been  endowed  with  freedom."1 

In  his  La  Victoire  du  Nord  aux  Etats  Unis, 
Montalembert  expressed,  with  his  usual  eloquence 
and  warmth  of  heart,  the  same  sorrow  at  Lin- 
coln's death,  and  the  same  joy  also  at  the  "success 
of  a  good  cause  served  by  honorable  means  and 
won  by  honest  people.  .  .  .  God  is  to  be  thanked 
because,  according  to  the  surest  accounts,  victory 
has  remained  pure,  unsullied  by  crimes  or  ex- 
cesses. .  .  .  That  nation  rises  now  to  the  first 
rank  among  the  great  peoples  of  the  world.  .  .  . 
Some  used  to  say :  Don't  talk  to  us  of  your  Amer- 
ica with  its  slavery.  She  is  now  without  slaves; 
let  us  talk  of  her." 

But  happy  as  he  was  at  the  results,  Montalem- 
bert rendered,  nevertheless,  full  justice  to  the 
South  and  its  great  leaders:  "The  two  parties, 
the  two  camps,  have  shown  an  equal  courage,  the 
same  indomitable  tenacity,  the  same  wonderful 
energy  .  .  .  the  same  spirit  of  sacrifice.  All  our 
sympathies  are  for  the  North,  but  they  in  no  way 
diminish  our  admiration  for  the  South.  .  .  . 
How  not  to  admire  the  Southerners,  while  regret- 
ting that  such  rare  and  high  qualities  had  not  been 
dedicated  to  an  irreproachable  cause !  What  men, 
and  also,  and  especially,  what  women !  Daugh- 
ters, wives,  mothers,  those  women  of  the  South 

1 A  very  long  article  by  L.  de  Gaillard,  April  30,  1868. 


302  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

have  revived,  in  the  midst  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, the  patriotism,  devotion,  abnegation  of  the 
Roman  ones  in  the  heyday  of  the  republic.  Clelia, 
Cornelia,  Portia  have  found  their  equals  in  many 
a  hamlet,  many  a  plantation  of  Louisiana  or 
Virginia."1 

Many  among  the  Liberals  seized  this  oppor- 
tunity to  praise  the  American  system  of  govern- 
ment as  opposed  to  European  ones:  " Democ- 
racy," said  Peyrat,  "is  not  incompatible  with 
great  extent  of  territory  or  the  power  and  duration 
of  a  great  government.  This  has  been  demon- 
strated on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  that 
is  the  service  which  the  United  States  have  ren- 
dered to  liberty. 

"They  have  rendered  another,  equally  impor- 
tant to  human  dignity,  in  showing  that  the  citizen 
has  become  among  them  great  and  powerful,  pre- 
cisely because  he  has  been  little  governed;  they 
have  proved  that  the  real  grandeur  of  the  state 
depends  upon  the  high  personal  qualities  of  the 
individuals.  In  our  old  societies,  power  put  man 
into  tutelage,  or  rather,  man  put  himself  in 
that  position  at  the  hands  of  the  government,  to 
which  he  looked  for  everything  he  wanted  in  life 
and  for  solutions  which  no  government,  whether 
monarchical  or  republican,  could  give. 

"The   United   States,    on   the   contrary,    have 

1  La  Victoire  du  Nord,  Paris,  1865,  pp.  7,  n,  20,  23. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  303 

granted  to  public  power  just  what  it  is  fit  that 
that  power  should  possess,  neither  more  nor  less." 1 
In  the  Journal  des  Debats,  Prevost-Paradol, 
one  of  the  best  writers  of  the  day,  said:  "The 
political  instinct  which  caused  enlightened  French- 
men to  be  interested  in  the  maintenance  of  Ameri- 
can power,  more  and  more  necessary  to  the  equi- 
librium of  the  world,  the  desire  to  see  a  great 
democratic  state  surmount  terrible  trials  and 
continue  to  give  an  example  of  the  most  perfect 
liberty  united  with  the  most  absolute  equality, 
assured  to  the  cause  of  the  North  a  number  of 
friends  among  us.  .  .  .  Lincoln  was  indeed  an 
honest  man,  if  we  give  to  the  word  its  full  mean- 
ing, or  rather,  the  sublime  sense  which  belongs  to 
it  when  honesty  has  to  contend  with  the  severest 
trials  which  can  agitate  states  and  with  events 
which  have  an  influence  on  the  fate  of  the  world. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Lincoln  had  but  one  object  in  view 
from  the  day  of  his  election  to  that  of  his  death, 
namely,  the  fulfilment  of  his  duty,  and  his  im- 
agination never  carried  him  beyond  it.  He  has 
fallen  at  the  very  foot  of  the  altar,  covering  it  with 
his  blood.  But  his  work  was  done,  and  the  spec- 
tacle of  a  rescued  republic  was  what  he  could  look 
upon  with  consolation  when  his  eyes  were  closing 
in  death.  Moreover,  he  has  not  lived  for  his 
country  alone,  since  he  leaves  to  every  one  in  the 

1  In  the  Avenir  National,  May  3,  1865. 


304  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

world  to  whom  liberty  and  justice  are  dear  a 
great  remembrance  and  a  great  example."1 

Accounts  of  Lincoln's  career  multiplied  in  order 
to  answer  popular  demand.  The  earliest  one,  by 
Achille  Arnaud,  was  printed  immediately  after 
his  death,  and  concluded  thus:  "There  is  in  him 
a  more  august  character  than  even  that  of  the 
statesman  and  reformer,  namely  that  of  the  man 
of  duty.  He  lived  by  duty  and  for  duty.  .  .  . 
No  mistake  is  possible;  what  Europe  honors  in 
Lincoln,  whether  or  not  she  is  aware  of  it,  is 
duty.  She  thus  affirms  that  there  are  not  two 
morals,  one  for  the  masters,  the  other  for  the 
slaves;  one  for  men  in  public  life,  the  other  for 
obscure  citizens;  that  there  is  only  one  way  to 
be  great:  never  to  lie  to  oneself,  nor  to  others, 
and  to  be  just."2 

Regis  de  Trobriand,  whose  loyalty  to  Lincoln 
never  wavered,  and  who  had  believed  in  him  even 
in  the  darkest  hours,  well  saw  the  importance  for 
the  whole  world  of  the  issue  of  the  great  conflict, 
and  justly  stated  that,  though  more  directly  con- 
cerning the  United  States,  the  fight  had  been  for 
"those  grand  principles  of  progress  and  liberty 
toward  which  modern  societies  naturally  tend, 
and  to  which  civilized  nations  legitimately  aspire. 

1  April  29,  1865. 

2  Abraham  Lincoln,  sa  naissance,  sa  vie,  sa  mort,  par  Achille  Arnaud, 
Redacteur  d  "  I'Opinion  Nationale."     Paris,  1865,  p.  96. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  305 

Such  a  cause  is  worth  every  sacrifice.  By  defend- 
ing it  at  all  costs  the  United  States  have  done 
more  than  fulfil  a  task  worthy  of  their  power  and 
patriotism,  for  their  triumph  is  a  victory  for  man- 
kind." 

Lectures  were  delivered  in  France  on  Lincoln 
and  America,  one,  under  the  chairmanship  of 
Laboulaye,  by  Augustin  Cochin,  a  member  of  the 
Institute,  showing  that  Lincoln  was  "not  only  a 
superior  type  of  the  American  race,  but  one  of  the 
highest  and  most  respected  of  the  human  race," 
something  more  than  a  great  man :  a  great  honest 
man.1 

As  a  sort  of  pendant  and  counterpart  for  the 
funeral  ceremony  held  in  the  Invalides  at  the 
death  of  Washington,  the  French  Academy  gave 
as  the  subject  of  its  grand  prize  in  poetry:  La 
mort  du  President  Lincoln.  Selected  in  the  year 
following  the  event,  the  subject  excited  immense 
interest ;  almost  a  hundred  poets  (some  of  whom, 
truth  to  say,  were  only  would-be  poets)  took  part 
in  the  competition,  which  was  decided  in  1867; 
several  of  the  productions  proved  of  great  literary 
merit.  The  prize  went  to  a  former  secretary  of 
embassy,  Edouard  Grenier,  who  had  already  made 
his  mark  as  a  gifted  literary  artist,  and  whom 
many  of  us  still  remember:  a  lovable  old  man,  of 

1  Bibliotheque   Liberate — Abraham   Lincoln,  by  Augustin  Cochin, 
Paris,  1869. 


306  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

upright  ideas,  a  model  of  courtesy,  counting  only 
friends  in  the  very  large  circle  of  his  acquain- 
tances. He  ended  with  these  admirable  lines: 

f  Tous  ces  fleaux  celestes, 

Ces  ravageurs  d'Etats  dont  les  pieds  triomphants 
Sur  les  peres  broyes  ecrasent  les  enfants, 
Grace  a  toi,  desormais,  paliront  dans  Phistoire.  .  . 
L'humanite  te  doit  Pesclavage  aboli  .  .  . 
L'Amerique  sa  force  et  la  paix  revenue, 
L 'Europe  un  ideal  de  grandeur  inconnue, 
Et  Pavenir  mettra  ton  image  et  ton  nom 
Plus  haut  que  les  Cesars — aupres  de  Washington. 

When,  in  a  log  cabin  of  Kentucky,  over  a  cen- 
tury ago,  that  child  was  born  who  was  named 
after  his  grandfather  killed  by  the  Indians,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  Napoleon  I  swayed  Europe,  Jeffer- 
son was  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
second  War  of  Independence  had  not  yet  come 
to  pass.  It  seems  all  very  remote.  But  the 
memory  of  the  great  man  to  whom  these  lines 
are  dedicated  is  as  fresh  in  everybody's  mind  as 
if  he  had  only  just  left  us;  more  people,  indeed, 
know  of  him  now  than  was  the  case  in  his  own 
day.  "It  is,"  says  Plutarch,  "the  fortune  of  all 
good  men  that  their  virtue  rises  in  glory  after 
their  death,  and  that  the  envy  which  any  evil 
man  may  have  conceived  against  them  never  sur- 
vives the  envious."  Such  was  the  fate  of  Lincoln. 


V 
THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL 

PHILADELPHIA,  APRIL  20,  1906 


THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL 

ON  the  occasion  of  the  second  centennial  of 
Franklin's  birth,  a  solemn  celebration, 
lasting  several  days,  was  held  in  Phila- 
delphia, under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  founded  by  himself  more 
than  a  century  and  a  half  before. 

Many  Americans  of  fame  took  part  in  the  cele- 
bration, such  men  as  the  Secretary  of  State 
Elihu  Root,  Senator  Lodge,  Horace  H.  Furness, 
former  Ambassador  Joseph  Choate,  the  President 
(not  yet  emeritus)  of  Harvard,  Charles  W.  Eliot, 
Doctor  Weir  Mitchell,  and  many  others.  Sev- 
eral foreign  nations  were  represented;  England 
notably  by  one  of  her  sons  who  has  succeeded  in 
the  difficult  task  of  adding  lustre  to  the  name  he 
bears,  Sir  George  Darwin. 

In  accordance  with  a  law  passed  by  Congress 
two  years  before,  a  commemorative  medal  was, 
on  that  occasion,  offered  to  France.  The  speech 
of  acceptance  is  here  reproduced  solely  to  have 
a  pretext  for  reprinting  the  generous  and  mem- 
orable address  of  presentation  by  the  then  Sec- 
retary of  State,  Mr.  Elihu  Root;  and  also  in 

309 


310  THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL 

order  to  help  in  better  preserving  the  souvenir 
of  a  more  than  graceful  act  of  the  United  States 
toward  France. 

SPEECH  BY  THE  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  PRESENT- 
ING THE  MEDAL 

EXCELLENCY:  On  the  2;th  of  April,  1904, 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  provided  by 
statute  that  the  Secretary  of  State  should  cause 
to  be  struck  a  medal  to  commemorate  the  two- 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  that  one  single  impression  on 
gold  should  be  presented,  under  the  direction 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the 
Republic  of  France. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  President  I  now 
execute  this  law  by  delivering  the  medal  to  you 
as  the  representative  of  the  Republic  of  France. 
This  medal  is  the  work  of  fraternal  collaboration 
by  two  artists  whose  citizenship  Americans  prize 
highly,  Louis  and  Augustus  Saint-Gaudens.  The 
name  indicates  that  they  may  have  inherited 
some  of  the  fine  artistic  sense  which  makes 
France  pre-eminent  in  the  exquisite  art  of  the 
medallist. 

On  one  side  of  the  medal  you  will  find  the 
wise,  benign,  and  spirited  face  of  Franklin.  On 
the  other  side  literature,  science,  and  philosophy 
attend,  while  history  makes  her  record.  The 


THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL  311 

material  of  the  medal  is  American  gold,  as  was 
Franklin. 

For  itself  this  would  be  but  a  small  dividend 
upon  the  investments  which  the  ardent  Beau- 
marchais  made  for  the  mythical  firm  of  Hortalez 
and  Company.  It  would  be  but  scanty  interest 
on  the  never-ending  loans  yielded  by  the  steady 
friendship  of  de  Vergennes  to  the  distressed  ap- 
peals of  Franklin.  It  is  not  appreciable  even 
as  a  gift  when  one  recalls  what  Lafayette,  Ro- 
chambeau,  de  Grasse,  and  their  gallant  comrades 
were  to  us,  and  what  they  did  for  us;  when  one 
sees  in  historical  perspective  the  great  share  of 
France  in  securing  American  independence,  loom- 
ing always  larger  from  our  own  point  of  view,  in 
comparison  with  what  we  did  for  ourselves. 

But  take  it  for  your  country  as  a  token  that 
with  all  the  changing  manners  of  the  passing 
years,  with  all  the  vast  and  welcome  influx  of 
new  citizens  from  all  the  countries  of  the  earth, 
Americans  have  not  forgotten  their  fathers  and 
their  fathers'  friends. 

Know  by  it  that  we  have  in  America  a  senti- 
ment for  France;  and  a  sentiment,  enduring 
among  a  people,  is  a  great  and  substantial  fact 
to  be  reckoned  with. 

We  feel  a  little  closer  to  you  of  France  because 
of  what  you  were  to  Franklin.  Before  the  re- 
splendence and  charm  of  your  country's  history 


312  THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL 

— when  all  the  world  does  homage  to  your  litera- 
ture, your  art,  your  exact  science,  your  philo- 
sophic thought — we  smile  with  pleasure,  for  we 
feel,  if  we  do  not  say:  "Yes,  these  are  old  friends 
of  ours;  they  were  very  fond  of  our  Ben  Franklin 
and  he  of  them." 

Made  more  appreciative,  perhaps,  by  what 
France  did  for  us  when  this  old  philosopher  came 
to  you,  a  stranger,  bearing  the  burdens  of  our 
early  poverty  and  distress,  we  feel  that  the 
enormous  value  of  France  to  civilization  should 
lead  every  lover  of  mankind,  in  whatever  land, 
earnestly  to  desire  the  peace,  the  prosperity,  the 
permanence,  and  the  unchecked  development  of 
your  national  life. 

We,  at  least,  can  not  feel  otherwise;  for  what 
you  were  to  Franklin  we  would  be — we  are — to 
you:  always  true  and  loyal  friends. 

THE  FRENCH  AMBASSADOR'S  ANSWER 

On  behalf  of  the  French  Republic,  with  feel- 
ings of  gratitude,  I  receive  the  gift  offered  to 
my  country,  this  masterful  portrait  of  Franklin, 
which  a  law  of  Congress  ordered  to  be  made, 
and  which  is  signed  with  the  name,  twice  famous, 
of  Saint- Gaudens. 

Everything  in  such  a  present  powerfully  ap- 
peals to  a  French  heart.  It  represents  a  man 
ever  venerated  and  admired  in  my  country — the 


THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL  313 

scientist,  the  philosopher,  the  inventor,  the  leader 
of  men,  the  one  who  gave  to  France  her  first  no- 
tion of  what  true  Americans  really  were.  "When 
you  were  in  France,"  Chastellux  wrote  to  Frank- 
lin, "there  was  no  need  to  praise  the  Americans. 
We  had  only  to  say:  Look;  here  is  their  repre- 
sentative." 

The  gift  is  offered  in  this  town  of  Philadelphia 
where  there  exists  a  hall  the  very  name  of  which 
is  dear  to  every  American  and  every  French  heart 
— the  Hall  of  Independence — and  at  a  gathering 
of  a  society  founded  "for  promoting  useful  knowl- 
edge," which  has  remained  true  to  its  principle, 
worthy  of  its  founder,  and  which  numbers  many 
whose  fame  is  equally  great  on  both  sides  of  the 
ocean. 

I  receive  it  at  the  hands  of  one  of  the  best 
servants  of  the  state  which  this  country  ever  pro- 
duced, no  less  admired  at  the  head  of  her  diplo- 
macy now  than  he  was  lately  at  the  head  of  her 
army,  one  of  those  rare  men  who  prove  the  right 
man,  whatever  be  the  place.  You  have  listened 
to  his  words,  and  you  will  agree  with  me  when  I 
say  that  I  shall  have  two  golden  gifts  to  forward 
to  my  government:  the  medal  and  Secretary 
Root's  speech. 

The  work  of  art  offered  by  America  to  France 
will  be  sent  to  Paris  to  be  harbored  in  that  unique 
museum,  her  Museum  of  Medals,  where  her  his- 


314  THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL 

tory  is,  so  to  say,  written  in  gold  and  bronze,  from 
the  fifteenth  century  up  to  now,  without  any 
ruler,  any  great  event,  being  omitted.  Some  of 
the  American  past  is  also  written  there — that 
period  so  glorious  when  French  and  American 
history  were  the  same  history,  when  first  rose  a 
nation  that  has  never  since  ceased  to  rise. 

There,  awaiting  your  gift,  are  preserved  medals 
struck  in  France  at  the  very  time  of  the  events, 
in  honor  of  Washington,  to  commemorate  the  re- 
lief of  Boston  in  1776;  a  medal  of  John  Paul  Jones 
in  honor  of  his  naval  campaign  of  1779;  an- 
other medal  representing  W.  Washington,  and  one 
representing  General  Howard,  to  commemorate 
the  battle  of  Cowpens  in  1781;  one  to  celebrate 
the  peace  of  1783  and  the  freedom  of  the  thirteen 
States;  one  of  Lafayette;  one  of  Suffren,  who 
fought  so  valiantly  on  distant  seas  for  the  same 
cause  as  Washington;  one,  lastly,  of  Franklin  him- 
self, dated  1784,  bearing  the  famous  inscription 
composed  in  honor  of  the  great  man  by  Turgot: 
"Eripuit  caelo  fulmen,  sceptrumque  tyrannis."  1 

My  earnest  hope  is  that  one  of  the  next  medals 

1  An  official  note  informed  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  following 
December,  of  the  arrangements  made  by  the  French  Republic  for 
the  preservation,  among  proper  surroundings,  of  the  Franklin  medal: 
"In  the  centre  of  the  Hall  of  Honor  in  the  Museum  of  Medals  at 
the  Paris  Mint,  stand  four  ancient  show-cases  of  the  time  of  Louis 
XVI.  One  of  these  has  been  selected  for  the  Franklin  medal,  which 
has  been  surrounded  with  the  medals  herein  below  enumerated,  which 
were  deemed  the  fittest  to  make  up  a  worthy  retinue,  if  the  phrase 


THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL  315 

to  be  struck  and  added  to  the  series  will  be  one 
to  commemorate  the  resurrection  of  that  great 
city  which  now,  at  this  present  hour,  agonizes 
by  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  The  disaster  of 
San  Francisco  has  awakened  a  feeling  of  deepest 
grief  in  every  French  heart,  and  a  feeling  of  ad- 
miration, too,  for  the  manliness  displayed  by  the 
population  during  this  awful  trial.  So  that  what 
will  be  commemorated  will  not  be  only  the 
American  nation's  sorrow,  but  her  unfailing  hero- 
ism and  energy. 

Now  your  gift  will  be  added  to  the  collection 
in  Paris;  it  will  be  there  in  its  proper  place. 
The  thousands  who  visit  this  museum  will  be  re- 
minded by  it  that  the  ties  happily  formed  long 
ago  are  neither  broken  nor  distended,  -and  they 
will  contemplate  with  a  veneration  equal  to  that 
of  their  ancestors  the  features  of  one  whom  Mira- 
beau  justly  called  one  of  the  heroes  of  mankind. 


The  Franklin  ceremony  had  occurred  at  the 
time  of  the  San  Francisco  catastrophe,  at  a  mo- 
ment when,  communication  having  been  cut, 
anxiety  was  intense. 

be  permissible."  There  follows  a  description  of  sixteen  medals  com- 
memorative of  Franco-American  history,  placed  in  the  same  case. 
"House  of  Representatives,"  5Qth  Congress,  26.  session,  Document 
No.  416. 


316  THE  FRANKLIN  MEDAL 

I  had  spoken  without  instructions,  but  the 
French  Government  took  their  representative's 
words  to  the  letter.  The  medal  was  ordered,  and 
was  for  Bottee,  the  artist,  a  former  recipient  of  the 
"Grand  Prix  de  Rome,"  a  work  of  love.  It  shows 
on  one  side  the  city  rising  from  its  ruins,  sur- 
rounded with  emblems  of  recovered  youth  and 
prosperity.  On  the  other  side  the  image  of  the 
French  Republic  is  seen  offering  from  over  the  sea 
a  twig  of  laurel  to  America. 

One  single  copy  in  gold  was  struck,  and  the 
presentation  took  place  in  rebuilt  San  Francisco, 
in  1909,  the  medal  being  received  by  the  states- 
man and  poet,  the  translator  of  the  sonnets  of 
Heredia,  Edward  Robeson  Taylor,  then  mayor 
of  the  city. 


VI 
HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  IN  THE  NAME  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY,  PHILADEL- 
PHIA, JANUARY  17,  1913 


HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS 

WE  meet  on  a  solemn  occasion. 
One  has  recently  disappeared  from  our 
midst  whose  work  was  a  model;  whose 
life,  too,  was  a  model ;  whose  benign  influence,  ex- 
erted for  many  years  from  the  seclusion  of  a  quiet 
retreat,  was  felt  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own 
country;  whose  views,   always  expressed  in  the 
gentlest  terms,  will  outlive  the  thunder  of  many 
a  noisy  writer,  as  ever-renewing  flowers  survive 
earthquakes. 

A  member  of  the  American  Philosophical  So- 
ciety, founded  in  his  own  city  by  Franklin  "to 
promote  useful  knowledge,"  Furness  was  true  to 
the  motto  of  the  society  and  lived  the  life  of  a  true 
philosopher.  I  call  him  Furness,  without  Doctor 
or  any  other  title,  not  because  he  is  no  more,  but 
to  obey  a  request  of  his.  "I  do  not  like  titles  in 
the  republic  of  letters,"  he  wrote  me  in  the  early 
times  of  our  acquaintance;  "if  you  will  drop  all 
to  me,  I  will  do  the  same  to  you.  One  touch  of 
Shakespeare  makes  the  whole  world  kin." 

All  those  whom  the  spirit  of  philosophy  has 
penetrated  and  who  stanchly  adhere  to  its  ideal 
count  among  the  noblest  types  of  humanity  and, 

319 


320  HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS 

whatever  their  rank  in  life  or  the  period  when 
they  lived,  resemble  each  other.  When  Furness 
died  numerous  eulogies,  biographies,  and  portraits 
of  him,  penned,  many  of  them,  by  the  hands  of 
masters,  were  published.  I  wonder  if  any  better 
resembled  him  than  this  one: 

"Remember  his  constancy  in  the  fulfilling  of  the 
dictates  of  reason,  the  evenness  of  his  humor  at 
all  junctures,  the  serenity  of  his  face,  his  extreme 
gentleness,  his  scorn  for  vainglory,  his  applica- 
tion to  penetrate  the  meaning  of  things.  He 
never  dismissed  any  point  without  having  first 
well  examined  and  well  understood  it.  He  bore 
unjust  reproaches  without  acrimony.  He  did 
nothing  with  undue  haste.  ...  A  foe  to  slander, 
he  was  neither  hypercritical,  nor  suspicious,  nor 
sophistical.  He  was  pleased  with  little,  modest  in 
his  house,  his  clothing,  his  food.  He  loved  work, 
ate  soberly,  and  thus  was  able  to  busy  himself, 
for  the  whole  day,  with  the  same  problems.  Let 
us  remember  how  constant  and  equable  was  his 
friendship,  with  what  open  mind  he  accepted  a 
frank  contradiction  of  his  own  views,  with  what 
joy  he  received  advice  that  proved  better  than 
his  own,  and  the  kind  of  piety,  free  from  all  super- 
stition, that  was  his.  Do  as  he  did,  and  your 
last  hour  will  be  comforted,  as  his  was,  by  the 
conscience  of  the  good  accomplished." 

In  those  higher  regions  where  true  philosophers 


HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS  321 

live,  equality  reigns ;  they  resemble  each  other  by 
their  virtues;  this  portrait,  which,  to  my  mind, 
gives  such  a  vivid  idea  of  the  life  Furness  led  at 
Wallingford,  near  Philadelphia,  was  drawn  eight- 
een centuries  ago,  by  that  noblest  of  antique 
minds,  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius,  describing  his 
predecessor,  the  first  of  the  Antonines,  he  who, 
on  the  last  night  of  his  life,  being  asked  for  the 
password,  had  answered:  "^quanimitas." 

After  studies  at  Harvard  and  Philadelphia  and 
a  visit  to  Europe  and  the  Levant,  having  taken 
such  part  in  the  Civil  War  as  his  infirmity  allowed 
him,  a  happy  husband,  a  happy  father,  Horace 
Howard  Furness  decided  to  devote  his  life  to  the 
"promotion  of  useful  knowledge."  He  withdrew, 
in  a  way,  from  the  world,  settling  in  a  quiet  re- 
treat, and  started  on  his  life's  work  with  the  equip- 
ment of  a  modern  scientist  and  the  silent  en- 
thusiasm, the  indefatigable  energy  of  mediaeval 
thinkers,  the  compilers  of  Summce  of  times  gone, 
regretting  nothing,  happy  with  his  lot,  at  one  with 
that  master  mind  of  old  English  literature,  the 
author  of  Piers  Plowman.  "For,"  said  centuries 
ago  the  man  "robed  in  russet," 

"  If  heaven  be  on  this  erthe  '  and  ese  to  any  soule, 
It  is  in  cloistre  or  in  scole  '  be  many  skilles  I  finde; 
For  in  cloistre  cometh  no  man  '  to  chide  ne  to  fihte, 
But  all  is  buxomnesse  there  and  bokes  '  to  rede  and  to 
lerne." 


322  HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS 

Such  a  cloister,  with  ease  to  his  soul,  with  bux- 
omness,  with  books  to  read  and  learn,  was  for 
our  departed  friend  his  house  in  Wallingford, 
where  he  lived  surrounded  by  that  extraordinarily 
gifted  family  of  his:  a  wife  to  whom  we  owe  the 
Concordance  to  the  poems  of  Shakespeare,  a 
sister  who  translated  for  him  the  German  critics, 
sons  and  a  daughter  and  a  sister's  relative1  who 
have  all  made  their  mark  in  their  country's  lit- 
erature. There,  for  years,  he  toiled,  never  think- 
ing of  self  nor  of  fame,  busy  with  his  task,  and 
even  in  his  seclusion,  with  his  tenderness  of  heart 
and  ample  sympathies,  listening  to 

The  still  sad  music  of  humanity. 

What  that  task  was  all  the  world  now  knows. 
A  passionate  admirer  of  Shakespeare,  he  wanted 
to  make  accessible  to  all  every  criticism,  informa- 
tion, comment,  explanation  concerning  the  poet 
which  had  appeared  anywhere  at  any  time. 
Each  volume  was  to  be  a  complete  encyclopaedia 
of  all  that  concerned  each  play.  The  first  ap- 
peared in  1871,  the  sixteenth  is  the  last  he  will 
have  put  his  hand  to. 

In  the  introduction  to  each  volume,  his  pur- 
poses and  methods  are  explained,  and  never  has 
any  writer  more  completely  and  more  unwittingly 
allowed  us  to  look  into  his  own  character  than 
1  Owen  Wister. 


HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS  323 

Furness  when  writing  what  he  must  have  con- 
sidered his  very  impersonal  statements.  What 
strikes  the  reader,  before  all,  is  the  philosophical 
spirit  which  pervades  the  whole  work.  A  worthy 
member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
he  wanted  to  be  ''useful."  Lives  are  and  will  be 
more  and  more  encumbered;  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge  should,  therefore,  be  made  more  and 
more  easy  of  reach.  "To  abridge  the  labor  and 
to  save  the  time  of  others"  was,  said  he  in  his 
first  volume,  what  impelled  him  to  write.  No 
pains  of  his  were  spared  to  lessen  those  of  others. 
And  all  specialists  know  the  extraordinary  relia- 
bility of  his  texts  and  statements.  "Nowhere, 
perhaps,"  Sir  Sidney  Lee  wrote  in  his  Life  of 
Shakespeare,  "has  more  labor  been  devoted  to 
the  study  of  the  works  of  the  poet  than  that  given 
by  Mr.  H.  H.  Furness,  of  Philadelphia,  to  the 
preparation  of  the  new  Variorum  edition." 

The  labor  was  one  of  love,  and  a  lover  naturally 
forgets  himself  for  the  beloved  one.  Furness  tried 
not  to  show  the  ardor  of  his  sentiments;  but  it 
now  and  then  appears,  usually  in  small  details 
when  he  would,  more  naturally,  be  off  his  guard. 
Shakespeare  calls  Caesar's  Ambassador  Thidias, 
and  not  Thyreus,  as  the  later-day  editors  do, 
under  pretense  that  it  was  the  real  name.  They 
are  wrong:  "Shakespeare  in  his  nomenclature 
was,  as  in  all  things,  exquisite.  .  .  .  For  certain 


324  HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS 

reasons  (did  he  ever  do  anything  without  reason  ?) 
he  chose  the  name  of  Thidias.  ..." 

In  the  privacy  of  intimate  correspondence  Fur- 
ness  would  be  more  outspoken,  being  not  restrained 
by  the  thought  that  he  would  be  imposing  his 
own  views  upon  the  mass  of  readers.  On  Cleo- 
patra, about  whom  I  had  risked  opinions  somewhat 
different  from  his,  he  wrote  me — it  seems  it  was 
yesterday:  "Of  course,  Shakespeare's  Cleopatra 
is  not  history.  But  who  cares  for  history?  Of 
this  be  assured,  that,  if  you  had  lived  with  her  as 
I  have  for  two  years,  you  would  adore  her  as 
deeply  as  I  do." 

The  truth  is  that,  as  he  said,  he  actually  lived 
with  the  personages  of  the  plays,  and  he  raptur- 
ously listened  to  those  far-off  voices,  which  came 
clearer  to  his  infirm  ears  than  to  those  of  any  one 
of  us,  meant  only  for  commonplace  uses.  He  had 
a  better  right  than  any  to  form  an  opinion,  but 
was  ever  afraid  to  seem  to  force  it  on  others.  Of 
his  edition  itself  he  had  written :  ' '  I  do  not  flatter 
myself  that  this  is  an  enjoyable  edition  of  Shake- 
speare. I  regard  it  rather  as  a  necessary  evil."1 
On  another  occasion,  having  been  criticised  about 
a  certain  statement  of  his,  he  wrote:  "I  now  wish 
to  state  that  my  critic  was  entirely  right  and  I 
entirely  wrong."  His  work  was  a  work  of  love, 
but  it  was  also  a  work  of  reason,  as  befits  a  phi- 

1  Introduction  to  Hamlet. 


HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS  325 

losopher.  He  leaned  throughout  toward  conser- 
vative methods,  which  have  doubtless  the  fault 
of  attracting  less  tumultuous  attention  to  the 
worker:  a  great  fault  in  the  eyes  of  the  many,  a 
great  quality  in  Furness's  own. 

His  shrewd  good  sense,  seconded  by  a  no  less 
enjoyable  good  humor,  never  failed  him.  When 
he  began,  one  important  question  had  first  to  be 
decided:  would  he  admit  in  his  work  only  tex- 
tual and  philological  criticisms  or  also  aesthetic 
criticism,  mere  poetry,  sheer  literature  ?  To  many 
the  temptation  would  have  been  great  to  exclude 
the  latter,  the  fashion  being  among  the  most 
haughty,  if  not  the  most  learned,  of  the  learned 
to  doubt  the  seriousness,  laboriousness,  usefulness 
of  any  who  can  enjoy,  in  a  play  of  Shakespeare's, 
something  else  than  doubtful  readings  and  mis- 
prints. This  school  is  less  new  than  is  generally 
believed,  and  in  his  Temple  du  Gout  Voltaire  had 
already  represented  the  superb  critics  of  the 
matter-of-fact  school  answering  those  who  asked 
them  whether  they  would  not  visit  the  temple: 

"  Nous,  Messieurs,  point  du  tout. 
Ce  n'est  pas  la,  grace  a  Dieu,  notre  etude; 
Le  gout  n'est  rien,  nous  avons  1'habitude 
De  rediger  au  long,  de  point  en  point, 
Ce  qu'on  pensa,  mais  nous  ne  pensons  point." 

The  fact  is  that,  as  Furness  well  perceived  from 
the  first,  the  two  elements  should  no  more  be 


326  HORACE   HOWARD   FURNESS 

separated  than  soul  from  body.  Without  accu- 
racy, literary  criticism  is  mere  trumpery;  without 
a  sense  of  the  beautiful,  mere  accuracy  is  death- 
like. Much  so-called  aesthetic  criticism,  wrote 
Furness,  "is  flat,  stale,  unprofitable.  .  .  .  But 
shall  we  ignore  the  possible  existence  of  a  keener 
insight  than  our  own  ?  .  .  .  Are  we  not  to  listen 
eagerly  and  reverently  when  Coleridge  or  Goethe 
talks  about  Shakespeare?" 

With  such  a  rule  in  mind  he  made  his  selections, 
pruning  what  he  deemed  should  be  pruned:  "re- 
jectiones  et  exclusiones  debitas,"  as  Bacon  would 
have  said.  But  one  more  kind  of  thing  he  ex- 
cluded, and  this  is  an  eminently  characteristic 
trait  of  his.  His  gentleness  (not  a  weak,  but  a 
manly  one)  rebelled  at  others'  acerbity,  and  when 
he  saw  appear  that  unwelcome  and  somewhat 
abundant  element  in  modern  criticism,  he  simply 
left  it  out:  no  admittance  for  any  such  thing 
within  the  covers  of  a  gentleman-scholar's  gentle- 
manly and  scholarly  work.  True  it  is  that,  while 
Shakespeare  is  the  author  most  read — after  the 
Bible,  it  is  also  the  one  about  which  the  most  furi- 
ous and  unchristian  disputes  have  been  waged 
— after  the  Bible.  The  Philadelphia  scholar 
wanted  all  the  critics  admitted  within  his  fold 
to  keep  the  peace  there,  and  he  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing rule:  "First,  all  unfavorable  criticism  of 
fellow  critics  is  excluded  as  much  as  possible.  .  .  . 


HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS  327 

To  confound  Goethe,  Schlegel,  or  Tieck  is  one 
thing,  to  elucidate  Shakespeare  is  another."  He 
went  even  further,  and  since  he  could  not  quote 
whole  books  and  had  to  select,  "the  endeavor," 
he  said,  "in  all  honesty  has  been  to  select  from 
every  author  the  passages  wherein  he  appears  to 
best  advantage."  What  critic,  then,  can  be 
imagined  so  blind  to  the  service  rendered,  so 
much  in  love  with  his  own  harshness,  that  would 
not  feel  toward  Furness  as  Queen  Katharine 
toward  Griffith: 

After  my  death  I  wish  no  other  herald, 
No  other  speaker  of  my  living  actions, 
To  keep  mine  honor  from  corruption, 
But  such  an  honest  chronicler  as — Furness. 

His  friendly  appreciation  of  French  critics  (who, 
with  all  they  lacked  in  early  days,  were,  after  all, 
the  first  to  form,  outside  of  England,  an  opinion 
on  Shakespeare,  the  oldest  one  being  of  about 
1680)  cannot  but  touch  a  French  heart.  "It  has 
given  me  especial  pleasure,"  he  said  in  the  Intro- 
duction to  his  first  volume,  "to  lay  before  the 
English  reader  the  extracts  from  the  French ;  it  is 
but  little  known,  in  this  country  at  least,  outside 
the  ranks  of  Shakespeare  students,  how  great  is 
the  influence  which  Shakespeare  at  this  hour  is 
exerting  on  French  literature,  and  how  many  and 
how  ardent  are  his  admirers  in  this  nation."  He 


328  HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS 

had  even,  at  a  later  date,  a  good  word  for  poor 
Duels  and  his  Hamlet,  a  Hamlet  truly  Duels 's 
own. 

Nor  shall  I  ever  forget  in  what  tones,  amidst 
friendly  applause,  the  great  scholar  spoke  of 
France  in  his  own  city  of  Philadelphia,  at  the 
memorable  gathering  of  April  20,  1906,  when,  in 
accordance  with  the  will  of  the  nation  as  expressed 
by  Congress,  a  medal  was  offered  to  my  country 
to  commemorate  her  reception  of  Franklin  at  the 
hour  when  the  fate  of  the  States  was  still  weigh- 
ing in  the  balance. 

In  the  early  years  of  manhood  one  sees,  far 
ahead  on  the  road,  those  great  thinkers,  scien- 
tists, master  men,  tall,  powerful,  visible  from  a 
distance,  ready  to  help  the  passer-by,  like  great 
oaks  offering  their  shade.  They  seem  so  strong, 
so  far  above  the  common  that  the  thought  never 
occurs  that  we  of  the  frailer  sort  may  see  the  day 
when  they  will  be  no  more.  Who  was  ever  pres- 
ent at  the  death  of  an  oak?  Whoever  thought 
that  he  could  see  the  day  when  he  would  accom- 
pany Robert  Browning's  remains  to  Westminster 
or  mourn  for  the  disappearance  of  Taine  or  Gaston 
Paris?  The  feeling  I  had  for  them  I  had  for 
Furness,  too.  Was  it  possible  to  think  that  this 
solid  oak  would  fall  ? 

He  himself,  however,  had  misgivings,  and  it 
seemed,  of  late  years,  as  if  the  dear  ones  who  had 


HORACE  HOWARD  FURNESS  329 

gone  before  were  beckoning  to  him.  "Do  you 
remember,"  he  wrote  me  in  1909,  "my  sister,  Mrs. 
Wister,  to  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  introduc- 
ing you  at  the  Franklin  celebration  ?  I  am  now 
living  under  the  black  and  heavy  shadow  of  her 
loss.  She  left  me  last  November,  solitary  and 
alone,  aching  for  the  'sound  of  a  voice  that  is 
silent."  And  at  a  more  recent  date:  "I  have 
been  so  shattered  by  the  blows  of  fate  that  I 
doubt  you'll  ever  again  receive  a  printed  forget- 
me-not  from  me." 

And  now,  in  our  turn,  members  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  members  of  the  Shakespeare 
Societies  of  the  world,  members  innumerable  of 
the  republic  of  letters,  we  too  ache  for  "the  sound 
of  a  voice  that  is  silent."  On  the  signet  with 
which  he  used  to  seal  his  letters,  Furness  had  en- 
graved a  motto,  which  is  the  best  summing  up 
of  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius's  firm  and  resigned 
philosophy:  "This,  too,  will  pass  away." 

For  him,  too,  the  august  sad  hour  struck.  But 
so  far  as  anything  in  this  fleeting  world  may  be 
held  to  remain,  so  long  as  mankind  shall  be  able 
to  appreciate  honest  work  honestly  done,  the 
name  of  Furness  will  not  pass  away,  but  live  en- 
shrined in  every  scholar's  grateful  memory. 


VII 
FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  AMERICAN 
SOCIETY  FOR  THE  JUDICIAL  SETTLEMENT  OF  IN- 
TERNATIONAL DISPUTES,  DECEMBER  17,  1910 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE1 

DOES  peace  mean  progress  ?  Is  the  disap- 
pearance of  war  a  sign  of  improvement  or 
of  decay?  At  a  yet  recent  date  learned 
men,  their  eyes  to  their  microscopes,  were  teach- 
ing us  that  among  the  various  kinds  of  living 
creatures  they  had  studied,  war  was  the  rule; 
that  where  struggle  ceased,  life  ceased;  and  that, 
since  more  beings  came  into  the  world  than  the 
world  could  feed,  the  destruction  of  the  weakest 
was  both  a  necessity  and  a  condition  of  progress. 
Struggle,  war,  violence  meant  development; 
peace  meant  decay.  And  a  bold  generalization 
applied  to  reasoning  man  the  fate  and  conditions 
of  unreasoning  vermin.  Since  it  was  fate,  why 
resist  the  inevitable  and  what  could  be  the  good 
of  peace  debates  ? 

But  the  stumbling-block  that  Science  had 
placed  on  the  road  to  better  days  has  been  re- 
moved by  Science  herself.  The  sweeping  con- 
clusions attributed  to  that  great  man  Darwin  by 
pupils  less  great  have  been  scrutinized;  other  ex- 
periments, such  as  he  would  have  conducted  him- 

1  The  text  of  this  address  is  reproduced  exactly  as  it  was  delivered, 
December  17,  1910,  only  a  few  notes  and  references  being  added. 


334  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

self  had  he  been  living,  were  tried,  and  their  re- 
sults added  to  our  book  of  knowledge.  Great 
results,  indeed,  and  notable  ones;  it  turned  out 
that  the  explanation  of  transformism,  of  progress, 
of  survival,  was  not  to  be  found  in  a  ceaseless  war 
insuring  the  predominance  of  the  fittest,  but  in 
quiet  and  peaceful  adaptation  to  environment,  to 
climate,  and  to  circumstances.  And  we  French 
are  excusably  proud  to  see  that,  for  having  un- 
folded those  truths  years  before  Darwin  wrote, 
due  honor  is  now  rendered  almost  everywhere,  and 
especially  in  America,  to  Jean  Baptiste  de  La- 
marck, author  of  the  long  obscure  and  now  famous 
Philosophic  Zoologique,  1809. 

As  for  the  undue  multiplication  of  individuals, 
statistics  unknown  to  Darwin  have  since  shown 
that,  whatever  may  be  the  case  with  beetles  or 
fishes  (and  let  them  work  out  their  own  problems 
according  to  their  own  laws),  there  is,  for  man  at 
least,  no  need  of  self-destruction  to  ward  off  such 
a  peril:  the  general  decrease  of  the  rate  of  re- 
production, so  striking  throughout  the  world,  is 
all  that  is  wanted,  and  in  some  cases  is  even 
more  than  is  wanted. 

War,  therefore,  is  not  our  unavoidable  fate,  and 
that  much  of  the  road  has  been  cleared:  a  long 
road  followed  amid  terrible  sufferings  by  mankind 
through  centuries.  The  chief  danger  in  times 
past,  and  partly  still  in  our  own,  does  not  result 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  335 

from  an  ineluctable  fate,  but  from  the  private 
disposition  of  men  and  of  their  leaders.  And  we 
know  what  for  ages  those  dispositions  were. 
Former-day  chroniclers  are  wont  to  mention,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  that  ''the  king  went  to  the 
wars  in  the  season,"  as  he  would  have  gone  a-fish- 
ing.  People  at  large  saw  not  only  beauty  in  war 
(as  there  is  in  a  just  war,  and  of  the  highest  order, 
exactly  as  there  is  in  every  duty  fulfilled) ,  but  they 
saw  in  it  an  unmixed  beauty.  Men  and  nations 
would  take  pride  in  their  mercilessness,  and  they 
were  apt  to  find  in  the  sufferings  of  an  enemy  an 
unalloyed  pleasure. 

Such  were  the  feelings  of  the  time.  To  none 
of  the  master  artists  who  represented  the  day  of 
judgment  on  the  walls  of  Rome,  Orvieto,  or  Padua, 
or  on  the  portals  of  our  northern  cathedrals,  did 
the  thought  occur  to  place  among  his  fierce  angels 
driving  the  guilty  to  their  doom,  one  with  a  tear 
on  his  face:  a  tear  that  would  have  made  the 
artist  more  famous  than  all  his  art;  a  tear,  not 
because  the  tortures  could  be  supposed  to  be  un- 
just or  the  men  sinless,  but  because  they  were 
tortures  and  because  the  men  had  been  sinful. 
Dies  ircsl 

Artists  belonged  to  their  time  and  expressed 
their  time's  thought.  The  teaching  of  saints  and 
of  thinkers  long  remained  of  little  avail.  War, 
that  "human  malady,"  as  Montaigne  said,  was 


336  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

considered  as  impossible  to  heal  as  rabies  was — 
until  the  day  when  a  Pasteur  came.  Yet  protests 
began  to  be  more  perceptibly  heard  as  men  better 
understood  what  they  themselves  were  and  com- 
menced to  suspect  that  the  time  might  come 
when  all  would  be  equal  before  the  law.  Nothing, 
Tocqueville  has  observed,  is  so  conducive  to 
mercy  as  equality.1 

All  those  who,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  led 
men  to  the  conquest  of  their  rights  can  be  truly 
claimed  as  the  intellectual  ancestors  of  the  present 
promoters  of  a  sane  international  peace :  men  like 
our  Jean  Bodin,  who,  while  upholding,  as  was 
unavoidable  in  his  day,  the  principle  of  autocracy, 
yet  based  his  study  of  the  government  of  nations 
on  the  general  interests  of  the  commonwealth, 
and  who,  in  opposition  to  Machiavelli,  who  had 
called  his  book  The  Prince,  called  his  The  Republic. 
To  Bodin,  who  protests  against  the  so-called 

1  On  this  he  is  very  insistent.  He  speaks  of  "cette  disposition  & 
la  pitie  que  P6galite"  inspire."  According  to  him,  "les  passions 
guerrieres  deviendront  plus  rares  et  moins  vives,  a  mesure  que  les 
conditions  seront  plus  6gales,"  and  elsewhere:  "Lorsque  le  principe 
de  l'£galite  ne  se  deVeloppe  pas  seulement  chez  une  nation,  mais  en 
meme  temps  chez  plusieurs  peuples  voisins  .  .  .  ils  congoivent 
pour  la  paix  un  meme  amour  .  .  .  et  finissent  par  considerer  la 
guerre  comme  une  calamit£  presque  aussi  grande  pour  le  vainqueur 
que  pour  le  vaincu."  But  this  goal  has  not  yet  been  reached,  and 
in  the  meantime,  "quel  que  soit  le  gout  que  ces  nations  aient  pour  la 
paix,  il  faut  bien  qu'elles  se  tiennent  pretes  a  repousser  la  guerre  ou, 
en  d'autres  termes,  qu'elles  aient  une  arm£e."  Democratic  en  Ameri- 
que,  i4th  ed.,  1865,  III,  444,  445,  473,  474. 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  337 

right  of  the  strongest,  have  been  traced  some 
of  the  principles  embodied  much  later  in  the 
American  and  in  the  French  "Declaration  of 
the  Rights  of  Man."1 

Such  thinkers  truly  deserve  the  name  of  fore- 
runners; such  men  as  that  great  Hugo  Grotius, 
whose  ever-living  fame  was  not  without  influence 
on  the  selection  of  his  own  country  as  the  seat  of 
the  peace  conferences  of  our  day,  and  who,  being 
then  settled  in  France,  near  Senlis,  dedicated  to 

1  Les  six  livres  de  la  Republique  de  Jean  Bodin,  Angevin,  Paris, 
1576;  innumerable  editions,  so  great  was  the  success.  The  work  is 
expressly  written  in  opposition  to  that  of  Machiavelli,  "this  procurer 
of  tyrants."  Kings  may  be  a  necessity,  yet  the  thing  of  the  state 
is  not  theirs,  but  is  the  common  property  of  the  citizens,  res  publica, 
No  one  on  board  the  ship  can  play  the  part  of  an  onlooker,  especially 
in  stormy  weather;  all  on  board  must  bestir  themselves  and  bring 
such  help  as  they  can:  "Depuis  que  1'orage  impetueux  a  tourmente 
le  vaisseau  de  nostre  Republique  avec  telle  violence  que  le  Patron 
mesme  et  les  pilotes  sont  comme  las  et  recreus  (worn  out)  d'un  travail 
continuel,  il  faut  bien  que  les  passagers  y  prestent  la  main,  qui  aux 
voiles,  qui  aux  cordages,  qui  a  Pancre,  et  ceux  a  qui  la  force  man- 
quera,  qu'ils  donnent  quelque  bon  advertissement,  ou  qu'ils  pre- 
sentent  leurs  vceux  et  prieres  a  Celuy  qui  peut  commander  aux  vents 
et  appaiser  les  tempestes,  puisque  tous  ensemble  courent  un  mesme 
danger."  (Preface,  to  the  magistrate  and  poet,  the  friend  of  Ron- 
sard,  Guy  du  Faur  de  Pibrac.)  For  Bodin,  peace  is  the  ideal;  yet 
"war  must  be  waged  to  repel  violence,  in  case  of  necessity.  .  .  . 
The  frontier  of  a  well-ordered  republic  is  justice,  and  not  the  point 
of  the  lance."  ("La  frontiere  d'une  republique  bien  ordonnee  est 
la  justice  .  .  .  et  non  pas  la  pointe  de  la  lance.")  Such  is  the  ideal, 
but  since  it  has  not  been  reached  yet,  the  keeping  up  of  a  permanent 
military  force  is  a  necessity,  "and  to  bestow  on  it  a  third  of  the 
revenue  is  not  too  much,"  especially  when  you  have  warlike  neigh- 
bors, which  is  the  case  of  "peoples  living  in  fertile  and  temperate 
regions,  like  France."  Bk.  V,  chap.  5. 


338  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

King  Louis  XIII  his  famous  work  on  war  and 
peace,  so  memorable  for  its  denunciation  of  frivo- 
lous wars  and  wanton  cruelties.1 

Soon  the  names  of  those  to  be  honored  for  the 
same  cause  became  legion:  men  like  Pascal, 
Saint-Pierre,  the  Encyclopedists,  Kant,  Bentham, 
Tocqueville,  and  many  others. 

Among  Pascal's  Thoughts  is  this  memorable  one, 
which  forecasts  and  sums  up  much  of  what  has 
since  been  or  will  be  done:  "When  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  deciding  whether  war  should  be  waged, 
of  sentencing  so  many  Spaniards  to  death,  one 
man  only  decides,  and  one  who  is  interested. 
The  decision  ought  to  rest  with  an  impartial  third 
party." 

A  little  later,  that  strange  Abbe  de  Saint- Pierre 
was  writing  those  works  considered  as  so  many 
wild  dreams  in  his  day  and  no  longer  read  at  all 
in  ours.  But  if  he  were  to  return  now,  he  would, 
according  to  one  of  his  latest  critics,  feel  not  at 
all  dismayed,  but  say:  "This  is  all  for  the  best; 
you  need  not  study  my  works,  since  you  have 
put  in  practise  nearly  all  my  ideas ;  there  remains 
only  my  Perpetual  Peace;2  but,  like  the  others, 
its  turn  will  come." 

1  De  Jure  Belli  ac  Pacis  Libri  ///,  Paris,  1625. 

2  Projet   pour  rendre   la   paix   perpetuelle   en  Europe,   1713-17;   3 
vols.     The  abbe"  dreamed  of  a  league  of  all  governments  in  favor  of 
peace;  any  of  them  breaking  the  pledge,  to  be  attacked  by  the  others. 
Differences  between  states  should  be  arbitrated.     A  French  prede- 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  339 

If  its  turn  has  not  come  yet,  great  practical 
steps  have  surely  been  taken  toward  it,  chief 
among  them  that  move,  so  unexpected  a  few 
years  ago,  so  dubiously  wondered  at  when  it  oc- 
curred, and  now  so  thoroughly  accepted,  that,  as 
in  the  case  of  all  great  inventions,  one  wonders 
how  things  could  go  on  before  it  existed :  the  call- 
ing of  the  first  conference  at  The  Hague  by  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  Nicholas  II. 

"The  maintenance  of  general  peace,"  read  the 
Russian  circular  of  August,  1898,  "and  a  possible 
reduction  of  the  excessive  armaments  which  weigh 
upon  all  nations,  present  themselves  in  the  actual 
situation  of  the  world,  as  the  ideal  toward  which 
should  tend  the  efforts  of  all  governments.  .  .  . 
The  ever-increasing  financial  expense  touches  pub- 
lic prosperity  at  its  very  source;  the  intellectual 
and  physical  powers  of  peoples,  labor  and  capital, 
are,  most  of  it,  turned  aside  from  their  natural 
functions  and  consumed  unproductively.  .  .  . 

cessor  of  the  abbe  had  been  Emeric  Cruce,  whose  Nouveau  Cynee  ou 
Discours  d'Estat  representant  les  occasions  et  moyens  d'establir  une  paix 
generate  et  la  liberte  du  commerce  par  tout  le  monde,  was  published  in 
Paris,  1623  (modern  edition,  with  an  English  translation  by  T.  W. 
Balch,  Philadelphia,  1909).  Cruce  was  in  favor  of  the  establishment 
at  Venice  of  a  Supreme  Court  of  Arbitration,  in  which  every  sovereign 
would  have  had  his  representative :  "  If  any  one  rebelled  against  the 
decree  of  so  notable  a  company,  he  would  receive  the  disgrace  of  all 
other  princes,  who  would  find  means  to  bring  him  to  reason"  (Batch's 
ed.,  p.  104) — a  plan  which,  in  fact,  is  still  under  discussion. 

In  connection  with  the  works  of  these  theorists  should  be  read, 
e.  g.,  Alberico  Gentili's  De  Jure  Belli,  1588-98. 


340  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

To  put  an  end  to  those  ceaseless  armaments  and 
to  find  means  for  preventing  the  calamities  which 
threaten  the  entire  world,  such  is  the  supreme 
duty  which  to-day  lies  upon  all  states." 

When  one  man,  then  another,  then  another,  had 
come  and  said:  I  can  draw  the  lightning  from 
the  clouds;  I  can  rise  in  the  air;  I  can  flash  your 
words  and  thoughts  to  any  distance  you  please; 
I  can  cure  rabies  by  inoculating  rabies;  I  can 
make  you  talk  with  your  friend  miles  away;  I 
can  navigate  a  boat  under  the  sea,  scepticism  had 
scarcely  been  greater  than  when  the  circular  took 
the  world  by  suiprise.  The  issue  seemed  more 
than  doubtful;  many  among  the  most  sanguine 
barely  hoped  to  succeed  in  preventing  the  abso- 
lute failure  that  would  have  killed  such  a  project 
for  generations. 

Shortly  afterward  I  happened  to  be  in  St. 
Petersburg  and  had  the  honor  of  being  received 
by  the  Emperor.  The  conversation  fell  on  the 
"Great  Design,"  to  give  it  the  name  used  for  the 
very  different  plan  (implying  coercion)  attributed 
two  centuries  before  to  the  French  King  Henry 
IV.  I  was  struck  by  the  quiet  conviction  of  the 
originator  of  the  new  movement  as  to  its  ultimate 
results,  and  his  disposition  not  to  give  up  the 
plan  if  at  first  it  met  with  difficulties  and  delays. 
Emperor  Nicholas  summed  up  his  views  with 
the  remark:  "One  must  wait  longer  when  plant- 
ing an  oak  than  when  planting  a  flower." 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  341 

Longer,  indeed,  yet  not  so  very  long,  after  all. 
The  first  conference  took  place,  and  in  it,  I  may 
say,  the  delegations  of  our  two  Republics  presided 
over  by  such  statesmen  and  thinkers  as  Andrew 
D.  White  and  Leon  Bourgeois,  failed  not  to  fulfill 
the  part  assigned  to  our  democracies  by  their 
ideals  and  traditions.  In  spite  of  scepticism,  that 
first  conference  reached  an  unexpected  measure 
of  success.  Eight  years  later  a  second  one  was 
convened  on  the  felicitous  suggestion  of  President 
Roosevelt,  and  now  the  supposedly  useless  mech- 
anism from  dreamland  has  been  so  heartily 
accepted  by  mankind  at  large,  all  over  the  globe, 
that  the  approximate  date  for  a  third  one  has 
already  been  selected.  Governments  at  first 
doubted  that  one  would  be  of  any  use;  now  they 
want  more. 

The  word  had  been  spoken  indeed  at  the  proper 
moment.  The  teachings  of  philosophers  and  of 
experience,  the  outcome  of  revolutions,  a  more 
vivid  sense  of  equality  among  men  imbuing  them 
with  mercy,  according  to  Tocqueville,  had  caused 
the  seed  to  fall  on  prepared  ground.  We  scarcely 
realize,  looking  at  it  from  so  near,  how  great  the 
movement  thus  started  has  already  become.  The 
practical  ideas  put  forth  less  than  a  dozen  years 
ago  have  progressed  so  much  that  more  treaties 
of  arbitration  have  been  signed  between  the  first 
Hague  Conference  and  now  than  between  the 
day  of  creation  and  that  conference.  I  take,  if 


342  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

I  may  be  permitted  to  allude  to  my  own  feelings, 
no  small  pride  in  having  concluded  the  first  one, 
duly  ratified  by  both  countries,  ever  signed  by 
the  United  States  with  any  European  Power,  and 
I  was  glad  to  thus  continue  an  old-established 
tradition,  since,  in  the  matter  of  treaties  with  the 
United  States,  be  they  treaties  of  commerce,  alli- 
ance, or  amity,  France  has  been  accustomed  to 
take  the  lead  among  nations.1 

Quicker,  indeed,  than  was  anticipated  by  the 
sower  himself,  the  oak  has  grown  and  the  nations 
can  rest  under  its  shade.  Several  important  ap- 
peals have  been  made  to  the  court  of  The  Hague, 
the  United  States  taking  the  lead  and  giving  to 
all  the  best  example.  Those  experiments,  which 
most  of  the  great  Powers  have  already  tried,  have 
had  manifold  advantages:  they  have  shown  that 
dangerous  quarrels  could  thus  be  honorably  set- 
tled; they  have  shown  also  that  defects  in  the 
working  of  the  court  exist  and  should  be  remedied. 

Public  utterances  and  circulars  from  Presidents 
Roosevelt  and  Taft  and  from  Secretaries  of  State 
Root  and  Knox  have  pointed  out  the  importance 
of  trying  to  establish  a  permanent  court,  with 
judges  ever  present,  paid  by  the  associated  nations, 

1  First  (and  only)  treaty  of  alliance,  1778;  first  treaty  of  amity 
and  commerce,  1778;  first  consular  convention,  1788;  first  treaty 
for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  1803. 
The  only  example  lacking,  and  for  good  reasons,  is  that  of  a  treaty 
of  peace  following  a  war. 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  343 

selected  from  among  men  of  such  a  high  moral 
standing  as  to  be  above  influence  of  creed  or  na- 
tionality, true  citizens  of  the  world,  fit  magis- 
trates to  judge  the  world. 

In  these  views,  the  future  realization  of  which 
the  second  conference  has  insured,  France  heartily 
concurred,  having  indeed,  during  the  first  confer- 
ence, initiated  an  early  preliminary  move  toward 
continuity  and  permanence. 

Given  these  more  and  more  enlightened  disposi- 
tions among  governments,  it  may  seem  that  the 
work  of  a  private  society  like  this  must  needs  be 
of  comparatively  little  import.  The  reverse  is 
the  truth.  It  has  an  immense  power  for  good, 
for  it  can  act  directly  on  the  lever  that  moves  the 
world:  public  opinion.  So  powerful  is  such  a 
lever  that  even  in  the  past,  in  times  when  men 
were  not  their  own  masters,  public  opinion  had 
to  be  reckoned  with;  such  imperious  leaders  of 
men  as  a  Richelieu  or  a  Napoleon  knew  it  better 
than  any  one.  Opinio  veritate  major,  had  even 
cynically  said  the  great  philosopher  Francis  Bacon. 
But  if  opinion  can  occasionally  defeat  truth,  much 
better  can  it  defend  truth.  With  the  spreading  of 
instruction  and  with  an  easier  access  to  men's 
minds  through  books,  journals,  public  meetings, 
and  free  discussion,  its  power  against  truth  has 
been  considerably  diminished  and  its  power  for 
good  increased  and  purified. 


344  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

You  know  this  and  act  accordingly.  Though 
doing  so  in  your  private  capacity,  you  conform 
in  fact  to  the  instructions  drawn  by  a  masterly 
hand  for  the  American  delegates  at  the  second 
conference  at  The  Hague.  In  these  instructions 
Secretary  Root  told  the  delegates  never  to  forget 
that  "the  object  of  the  conference  was  agreement, 
not  compulsion,"  and  that  the  agreements  reached 
should  be  "genuine  and  not  reluctant." 

This  is,  undoubtedly,  the  road  to  follow,  a  road 
not  yet  smooth,  nor  cleared  of  its  rocks  and  pit- 
falls. The  dangers  continue  to  be  many.  One 
of  the  dangers  is  of  asking  too  much  too  soon 
and  of  causing  nations  to  fear  that,  if  they  make 
any  little  concession,  they  will  be  led  by  degrees 
to  a  point  where,  being  peacefully  disarmed,  their 
continuance  as  a  nation  will  depend  upon  the  will, 
the  good  faith  and  the  excellent  virtues  of  some 
one  else.  Another  is  to  describe  war  as  being 
such  an  abominable  thing  in  itself,  whatever  be 
its  occasion,  as  to  cause  that  public  opinion  on 
which  so  much  depends  to  rebel  against  the 
preacher  and  his  whole  doctrine. 

Let  us  not  forget  that,  even  in  the  land  of 
"Utopia,"  the  country  of  Nowhere,  in  which 
every  virtue  of  good  citizenship  was  practised, 
and  war  held  as  a  monstrosity,  rem  plane  beluinam, 
all  wars  had  not  been  abolished.  Sir  Thomas 
More  informs  us  that  Utopians  make  war  for 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  345 

two  causes  and  keep,  therefore,  well  drilled.  The 
causes  are :  First,  ' '  to  defend  their  own  country ' ' ; 
second,  "to  drive  out  of  their  friends'  land  the 
enemies  that  have  invaded  it." J  We  have  waged 
in  the  past  such  wars  and  cannot  pretend  to  feel 
repentant. 

Such  wars  continue  to  be  unavoidable  to-day, 
and  to  deny  this  is  only  to  increase  the  danger  of 
a  revulsion  of  feeling  among  well-disposed  nations. 
What  we  may  hope  and  must  strive  for  is  that, 
with  the  development  of  mankind,  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  our  neighbors,  an  understanding  that  a 
difference  is  not  necessarily  a  vice,  nor  a  criticism 
a  threat,  with  that  better  instruction  which  a 
society  like  this  one  is  giving  to  the  many,  a  time 
may  come  when  that  same  public  opinion  will 
render  impossible  the  two  sorts  of  casus  belli  for 
which  More  deems  war  to  be  not  only  necessary 
but  noble  and  virtuous. 

No  less  dangerous  is  it  to  load  war  with  all  the 
sins  in  Israel,  thus  running  the  same  risk  of  mak- 

1  "Thoughe  they  do  daylie  practise  and  exercise  themselves  in  the 
discipline  of  warre,  and  not  onelie  the  men  but  also  the  women  upon 
certen  appointed  daies,  lest  they  should  be  to  seke  (inhabiles  in  the 
Latin)  in  the  feate  of  armes,  if  nede  should  require,  yet  they  never 
go  to  battell,  but  either  in  defence  of  their  owne  countrey,  or  to 
drive  out  of  their  frendes  lande  the  enemies  that  have  invaded  it,  or 
by  their  power  to  deliver  from  the  yocke  and  bondage  of  tirannye 
some  people,  that  be  therewith  oppressed.  Which  thing  they  do  of 
meere  pi  tie  and  compassion."  Ralph  Robinson's  translation,  ist 
ed.,  1551;  ed.  Arber,  p.  132. 


346  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

ing  people  rebel  not  only  against  the  preacher  but 
against  his  very  creed.  When  we  are  told  by  the 
pacifist  that,  owing  to  the  wars  of  the  early  nine- 
teenth century,  only  inferior  people  were  left  in 
France  to  perpetuate  the  race,  we  wonder  how  it 
is  that  she  got  a  Victor  Hugo,  an  Alexandre 
Dumas,  a  Louis  Pasteur,  sons  of  soldiers  of  Napo- 
leon, all  three.  We  wonder  how,  in  spite  of  this 
supposed  survival  of  "the  weakest,"  that  coun- 
try got  so  many  thinkers,  philosophers,  poets, 
artists,  soldiers,  explorers;  how  the  venturous 
spirit  of  the  former  "coureurs  de  bois"  awoke 
again  in  our  days  with  such  notable  results  in 
Asia,  Africa,  and  elsewhere;  how  birth  was  given 
in  our  land  to  the  inventors  of  the  dirigible,  the 
automobile,  the  submarine,  photography,  and 
radium;  how  the  love  of  sport  in  the  race  has  re- 
appeared of  late,  as  active  as  it  had  ever  been  in 
the  remote  times  when  football  and  cricket  found 
in  France  their  rough-hewn  cradle. 

Exaggeration  will  not  help,  but  on  the  contrary 
surely  hurt.  Truth,  if  we  follow  her,  is  certain 
to  lead  to  better  times.  She  has  already.  Wars 
in  former  centuries  lasted  a  hundred  years,  then 
they  lasted  thirty  years,  then  seven  years;  and 
now,  as  disastrous  as  ever,  it  is  true,  but  separated 
by  longer  intervals,  they  last  one  year.1  You  are 

1  Most  of  them  much  less.  In  this,  however,  as  in  so  many  other 
respects,  the  present  war,  declared  by  Germany  against  Russia, 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  347 

about  to  celebrate  a  hundred  years'  peace  with 
England;  so  are  we. 

That  move  toward  truer,  longer,  perhaps  one 
day  definitive  peace,  has  been  prophesied  long  be- 
fore our  time,  not  merely  by  a  dreamer  like  Abbe 
de  Saint-Pierre,  but  by  one  who  had  a  rare  experi- 
ence of  men,  of  war,  and  of  peace,  and  who,  con- 
sidering especially  the  influence  of  trade  on  na- 
tions, once  said: 

"Although  I  pretend  to  no  peculiar  informa- 
tion respecting  commercial  affairs,  nor  any  fore- 
sight into  the  scenes  of  futurity,  yet  as  the  mem- 
ber of  an  infant  empire,  as  a  philanthropist  by 
character,  and  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression) 
as  a  citizen  of  the  great  republic  of  humanity  at 
large,  I  cannot  help  turning  my  attention  some- 
times to  this  subject.  I  would  be  understood  to 
mean  that  I  cannot  help  reflecting  with  pleasure 
on  the  probable  influence  that  commerce  may 
hereafter  have  on  human  manners  and  society  in 
general.  On  these  occasions  I  consider  how  man- 
kind may  be  connected  like  one  great  family  in 
fraternal  ties.  I  indulge  a  fond,  perhaps  an  en- 
thusiastic idea  that,  as  the  world  is  evidently 
less  barbarous  than  it  has  been,  its  amelioration 
must  still  be  progressive;  that  nations  are  be- 

August  i,  1914  (five  days  before  Austria  could  be  persuaded  to  act 
likewise),  against  France  the  3d,  against  Belgium  the  4th,  which 
was  tantamount  to  declaring  it  on  England  too,  is  an  exception. 


348  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

coming  more  humanized  in  their  policy,  that  the 
subjects  of  ambition  and  causes  for  hostility  are 
daily  diminishing;  and  in  fine  that  the  period  is 
not  very  remote  when  the  benefits  of  a  liberal 
and  free  commerce  will  pretty  generally  succeed 
to  the  devastations  and  horrors  of  war." 

Thus  wrote  to  Lafayette,  on  the  1 5th  of  August, 
1786,  that  "citizen  of  the  great  republic  of  human- 
ity," George  Washington.1 

That  practical  results  have  been  secured  is  cer- 
tain ;  that  better  ones  are  in  store,  if  we  act  wisely, 
is  no  less  certain.  Mankind  longs  for  less  troubled 
days,  and  moves  toward  this  not  inaccessible 
goal.  Such  is  the  truth;  and  we  may  feel  con- 
fident that,  according  to  the  oft-quoted  word  of 
dying  Wyclif,  "Truth  shall  conquer." 

1  In  connection  with  Washington's  views,  those  of  Franklin  con- 
cerning amicable  relations  between  great  countries  may  appropri- 
ately be  quoted.  He  wrote  from  Passy,  on  October  16,  1783,  to  his 
friend  David  Hartley,  one  of  the  British  plenipotentiaries  for  the 
peace:  "What  would  you  think  of  a  proposition,  if  I  sh'd  make  it 
of  a  family  compact  between  England,  France,  and  America?  Amer- 
ica would  be  as  happy  as  the  Sabine  girls  if  she  could  be  the  means 
of  uniting  in  perpetual  peace  her  father  and  her  husband.  What  re- 
peated follies  are  those  repeated  wars!  You  do  not  want  to  con- 
quer and  govern  one  another.  Why,  then,  should  you  continually 
be  employed  in  injuring  and  destroying  one  another?  How  many 
excellent  things  might  have  been  done  to  promote  the  internal  wel- 
fare of  each  country;  what  bridges,  roads,  canals,  and  other  public 
works  and  institutions  tending  to  the  common  felicity,  might  have 
been  made  and  established  with  the  money  and  men  foolishly  spent 
during  the  last  seven  centuries  by  our  mad  wars  in  doing  one  another 
mischief ! "  Works,  ed.  Smythe,  IX,  107. 


FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE  349 


A  POSTSCRIPT 

A  few  years  after  this  address  had  been  de- 
livered threatening  clouds  began  to  gather.  Ger- 
many, who  had  prevented,  at  the  first  conference 
of  The  Hague,  anything  being  done  toward  a 
limitation  of  armaments  as  proposed  by  Russia,1 
suddenly,  in  full  peace,  when  other  nations  were 
inclined  to  think  that  they  were  rather  too  much 
armed  than  not  enough,  passed  a  law  increasing, 
in  a  prodigious  degree,  her  military  forces. 

On  this  move  of  hers,  on  what  peace-loving 
democracies  ought  to  do  in  the  presence  of  such 
an  unexpected  event,  on  the  future  of  the  peace 
and  arbitration  ideas,  after  such  a  blow,  the 
former  president  of  the  French  delegation  at  The 
Hague,  Mr.  Leon  Bourgeois,  wrote  in  May,  1913, 
little  more  than  a  year  before  the  present  war,  a 
noteworthy  letter,2  in  which  we  read: 

"One  fact  strikes  us  most  painfully  and  might 
at  first  disturb  our  minds.  The  bills  presently 
submitted  to  the  Reichstag  are  going  to  increase 
in  a  formidable  manner  the  armaments  of  Ger- 
many, and  to  necessitate  on  the  part  of  France  an 

1  "Notwithstanding  the  support  given  to  the  Russian  proposition 
by  France,  one  of  the  most  martial  of  the  nations,  and  by  various 
other  governments,  the  objections  voiced  by  the  German  delegates 
were  too  serious  to  be  overcome."    John  W.  Foster,  Arbitration  and 
The  Hague  Court,  Boston,  1904,  p.  32. 

2  Text,  e.  g.,  in  the  Temps,  May  12,  1913. 


350  FROM  WAR  TO  PEACE 

extraordinary  effort,  and  sacrifices  to  which  we 
must  manfully  and  promptly  consent.  .  .  . 

"No  one  more  than  myself  deplores  that  folly 
of  armaments  to  which  Europe  is  yielding,  and  I 
do  not  forget  that  it  was  I  who,  in  1899,  at  the 
first  Hague  Conference,  drew  up  and  defended  the 
resolution  in  favor  of  a  limitation  of  the  military 
load  weighing  on  the  world.  But  I  do  not  forget 
either  what  I  said  before  the  Senate,  in  1907,  after 
the  second  conference:  'As  for  us,  confirmed  par- 
tisans of  arbitration  and  peace,  disarmament  is  a 
consequence,  not  a  preparation.  For  disarmament 
to  be  possible,  one  must  first  feel  that  one's  right 
is  secure.  The  security  of  right  is  what  must  be 
organized  first  of  all.  Behind  that  rampart  alone, 
nations  will  be  able  to  lay  down  their  arms.  .  .  . 

"Let  us  be  pacific,  but  let  us  be  strong.  And 
let  us  know  how  to  wait.  The  very  excess  of  the 
load  weighing  on  Europe  will  originate,  sooner 
than  is  sometimes  believed,  that  irresistible  move- 
ment of  opinion  which  will  cause  a  policy  of  wis- 
dom, mutual  respect,  and  real  security,  to  be- 
come an  unavoidable  necessity." 

The  chief  factor  will  be  public  opinion.  Present 
events  will,  one  may  hope,  have  served  to  educate 
public  opinion  throughout  the  world. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below. 


DEC  5  -'79 

D£C    71979REH 


NOV  3  0  1999  REC'O 


100m-8,'65  (F6282s8)2373 


3  2106  00056  9456 


